Shhhh…hush my child…let my love wash over you…I delight in you.
What could be more calming than God’s love? What could feel more special than God delighting in us? Do you realize that God enjoys you? He delights in you? His children bring him joy and pleasure. I have to really stop and think about that because I tend to focus sometimes on how I probably disappoint him, or just could simply do better. I find myself thinking about the “I shoulds.” I should read my bible more, I should pray more, I should help out with this or that, I should be more like him or her, I should be more patient, I should wake up earlier and have a better quiet time with God. I am not doing a good job. Oh the defeat that the enemy wants us to hear!
I stumbled upon Zephaniah 3:17 by accident, or more accurately as a gift from the Holy Spirit. God’s Word is alive and active and it was what I needed to hear that particular day.
“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
Every once in a while a verse catches my attention like no other. Words fall in the crevices of my heart that can smooth the rough and empty areas and leave it freshly paved with peace.
God wants us to hear that he delights in us just the way we are today. And when I let myself be calmed and quieted with his love, I find that I stop comparing myself to others or to the endless do better lists. When I let his love and delight emulse with my heart, I find that I want to pray more and I want to read God’s Word. God doesn’t want to be a checklist, He wants to be our God. He wants us to delight in him the way He delights in us!
Father, Let me hear your words today. Quiet me with your love. You delight in me. When I see me, I see a mess. When you see me, you see the joy and pleasure I bring as your creation and child. Only your love can wash over me and renew my peace today. You give peace not as this world gives. That is the peace I need to delight in you today. Let me live my life one day at a time growing in my love and delight for you. I pray for the desire to spend time talking with you in prayer and reading and studying your word, not as a chore or checklist, but as a delight. Amen