“The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a
Savior (Who saves)! He will rejoice over
you with joy; He will rest (in silent satisfaction) and in His love He will be
silent and make no mention (of past sins, or even recall them); He will exult
over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
I was reading this morning in Zephaniah 3 and it was talking
about how the Israelites had been so rebellious and how they didn’t listen to
or heed God’s voice on things. It talked
about how Israel’s prophets were “light, lacking truth, gravity and steadiness”
(vs. 4) and so on. Then right in the
middle I was surprised to see that in verse 5 it says, “the Lord in the midst
of her is (uncompromisingly) righteous; He will not do iniquity. Ever morning He brings His justice to light;
He fails not, but the unjust (person) knows no shame.”
“Wow”, I thought to myself!
What an amazing Savior and how sweet of Him! He is a God who sees all of this and is
obviously upset at their behavior but He still chooses to be in their
midst. I felt that He was saying that
this was the state of our churches. It
sure takes guts to walk in all of God’s gifts that have been given to us and to
learn to walk in our authority over our common enemy. It takes guts to overlook denominational
differences and to love one another with our different “gifting’s” in
mind. But this morning I was reflecting
on how I mess up so much. I speak out
things that are rude or not thoughtful so quickly. I know that my words bring about godliness or
ungodliness…but I still need to learn so much about obeying that still small
Voice that speaks to me right before I say something. Sigh, will I ever learn??
As I kept reading through this chapter I saw in verse 8 that
the Lord says, “Therefore, (earnestly) wait for Me, …(waiting) for the day when
I rise up to attack (as witness, accuser, or judge, and a testimony)…” I saw then saw Jesus in my own
situations. I saw that I have been
waiting on Him to help our family. We
have been here in the Fort Hood area for 8 years now and we have given and
served the US Army for a long time now. (We have been out for several years now
and are so grateful for all we learned and that we were so well provided forJ) We have had to wait
on God to heal us from PTSD but He did.
We have had to wait on God to heal our bad habits formed from that…but
He is healing those today. We have
walked through so many trials but in a sweet way God has always been in our
midst. He has fought for us as I have
begged Him to. He has turned our
mourning into dancing…
I then went on to read in verses 12-16 that basically all
these trials were used for our good, that they burned away the yuck and the
Israelites were then left with a mantle of sorts of humility and a courageous
and warrior spirit. They could lie down
and were not afraid. Their enemy was
cast out! vs 15, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice, be in high spirits and glory with
all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem (in that day)(.. and this is that
day!), …He has cast out your enemy. The
King of Israel, even the Lord (Himself), is in the midst of you; (and after He
has come to you) you shall not experience or fear evil any more.”
Then this next verse spoke deeply to my heart… “Behold, at that time I will deal with all
those who afflict you; (ptsd, anger, rage, confusion, fear, rebellion, the list
could go on…) I will safe the limping (ones) and gather the outcasts and will
make them a praise and a name in every land of their shame.” (vs 19) So much of what we think is just us, is
actually the enemy assaulting us. If we
only knew that it was something spiritual and not just a symptom. Jesus came to set us free from our
afflictions and that might be a physical diagnosis, a spiritual or emotional
one. I know so many families affected
by PTSD and I just want them to know that God can heal and remove all the symptoms
so don’t give up asking and believe that He will heal and restore what was
lost.
I just want to thank God for His goodness and for loving my
family so much and for providing for us each day in such amazing ways. I thank God for our time here in Killeen and
for the wonderful friends He has given us and for the great churches we have
been a part of. Jesus has always been in
our midst, loving us, helping us and fighting for us. He has used this time here for our good and
now He is taking us to a new place (Kansas) to begin a new chapter of our
lives.
What I hope you see is that God will take what afflicts us
and what causes us to limp and will heal us from that. He will then help us to use that very shame
or weakness to help others for His glory.
And so, I hope this is a little encouragement to you this day. God never leaves us and always has a plan to
bless us and bring healing to our hearts and minds. This next verse has been one near and dear to
my heart. My Jesus dances over me and
loves me. He wants me to walk in His
Rest as He sings over me.
“The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a
Savior (Who saves)! He will rejoice over
you with joy; He will rest (in silent satisfaction) and in His love He will be
silent and make no mention (of past sins, or even recall them); He will exult over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
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