“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
I have come to believe that one’s perception and understanding
of who God is drives pretty much everything else in your life.
How I understand and perceive the nature of God frames my view
of the world, including the framing of my self-perception as
well as how I view and treat others. Think about it: so many
folks come to see and understand God as a distant, uninvolved,
unemotional, impersonal “power” whose only connection to us is
as an angry, demanding, unreasonable, unpredictable “judge” who
expects us to toil and sweat through life trying to make sure we
have enough “good deeds” listed on the balance sheet so maybe,
just maybe (we can never have any assurance of this, you see) we
can slip by on judgment day. It is unfortunate that many of the
folks who see God this way may sit next to us each Sunday at our
assemblies.
Passages like the one above from Zephaniah of all places (if you
are like me you may have been led to believe the Old Testament
God was only full of anger, lightening bolts and judgment) help
me see the true character and nature of God. Zephaniah was
writing to the Israelites, God’s chosen people who had
continually turned away from God to go their own way – only to
find the amazing love of God wooing and drawing them back to
Himself. Zephaniah paints a picture of God that transcends
Testaments because it speaks of the never changing character and
heart of God. The God you and I can come to know is one who:
• Is “with” us – he invites us to the “with-God” life, a
life of intimate relationship, a relationship he initiates,
sustains and never gives up on.
• “delights” is us – he is thrilled with us – he has our
picture on his refrigerator door so he can smile at us each day
– he can’t get enough of us (think: grandparent and 1st
grandchild!) we bring him great pleasure.
• “sings over us” – imagine that! God is so joyously in
love with us that he can’t keep the love song in – as he ponders
us love songs spill from his heart (begs the question: does God
sing bass or tenor?)
Let me ask you something: if you really understood God at the
Zephaniah level – that He loves to be with you, that He derives
great pleasure and joy from his relationship with you, that He
is so full of love and joy because of you and your life lived
for Him – would it make a difference in your daily life? With
that true understanding of your heavenly Father, could you face
your difficulties, endure your challenges, respond to the
heartache in your life, rejoice at the blessings of the day and
have a message to share with someone who is struggling? I think
so. Take the Zephaniah challenge – read Zephaniah 3:17 every day
for a month and see if it doesn’t “reframe” your life and
strengthen your soul!
