My friend Loni from Writing Canvas has asked us to post encouragement today for a Blog Hop. The first thing that came to my mind is one of my favorite verses from Zephaniah.
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 found so much encouragement in this verse! Maybe that is why the song "Mighty to Save" by Laura Story (or Hillsong!) is so precious to me. My God SAVES me! He loves me so much!!! He delights in me!
When my oldest was younger, he would suffer from coughing bouts in the middle of the night, losing lots of sleep. I prayed this verse over him constantly, "the Lord will QUIET you with His love." When my own heart was upset, restless, anxious, I would pray the same...."He will quiet me with His love."
I am so encouraged by this part of the verse. God, like a mother who sings over her newborn baby sings over ME (and you!). He REJOICES in who we are (not what we've done).....but just who we ARE!
I wrote this about Abigail when she was first born:
As I snuggle Abby, only a few weeks old, inhaling her sweet baby smell, rubbing my cheek against her soft skin, my heart fills with inexpressible JOY! I look down into her eyes and my heart feels like it is going to burst because I am filled with so much love for her.
Could it be possible to love a person so much? To be filled with such delight just LOOKING at someone?
Abby hasn’t DONE anything. She hasn’t pleased me because of her deeds or actions. I am delighted in her because she IS. She just lays there and IS. She does not need to perform in any way to please me. She doesn’t have to be “good.” I just love her- I can’t even explain it or put it into words. I love her with a love that can not be measured because she is mine.
God has shown me again how He feels for me by showing me how I feel for my children. “He takes great delight in me (and you!) and rejoices over me (and you!) with singing”- not because I have DONE anything, but simply because I exist and I am His. And, just as I look down at Abby, my heart bursting with love and joy, our Heavenly Father looks down at us, His heart bursting with love and joy. He breathes us in, rubs our cheeks, and is delighted in us.
Oh, let that sink in! How our Father loves us!
Please visit Loni for more encouragement!
For a deeper study of Zephaniah click here. And for more "washing" in His love, check out Cherished or He loves me! Yea! Yea! Yea!
5 thoughts shared....:
Oh Tracy, how I love the Zephaniah verse too. I can only imaging the Lord singing over me. Unbelievable and yet His Word says so. I love the example you used of your baby. What a wonderful encouraging post today. Thank you.
Tracy,
Since you shared this, why not join the BLOG HOP & add the code here.
Go here to see:
http://www.mcklinky.com/blog_hop.asp
Zephaniah & your personal story truly do show encouragement & a treasure to cherish! Miss visiting here! It's good to see you blogging encouragement after all the enemy has pitched your way! Be blessed & refreshed & hopefully encouraged!
Add the Blog Hop Link & let others encourage you too!
Great post and your blog is awesome!!!
I imagine there are many women who cannot identify with the idea of the Lord ( or anyone else perhaps ) loving them so much they sing over them. What an awesome thing to know that the King of all Kings, the Creator of the Universe, the Great I Am sings over us in order to quiet us with His love. Unbelievable!!
Leah
A beautiful post, Tracy. I love this particular scripture...especially the phrase that tell us He sings over us! Thank you for the picture of a Mother singing over her child...it certainly gives us an image of the Father, holding us close and singing to bring peace to our souls.
Bless you,
Susan
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