Dusty Sandals (Christian Devotional)

Unpack the Scriptures

New King James Version (NKJV) Zephaniah 3:17

"The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."

Many times we as Gods children think God is mad at us. We feel undeserving of His love. We feel we are annoying and that God must be disappointed with us! NO! When we read the scriptures take time to Unpack it like a surprise gift from God. We are His children, His babies! We still are learning to walk. We fall and He Lifts us up. He is not mad. He IS love! I love this scripture because it reminds me first He is in our midst. He is with us ALL the time! He is not 1/2 here and 1/2 someplace else. Our phones are what's killing our relationships! It's making us half-hearted people...not committing fully to one person at a time! No more husband-wife conversations, no more fully giving our children 100% of our time and attention and bring God into this subject? When is the last time you gave God 100% of your attention? But here the God of the universe wants us to be aware He is here! He is IN our midst!

Next, He reminds us of His power to save us! We are not alone, we are safe! How many times were you afraid of the dark and just by crawling into your parent's bed at night it would make the fear go away... Just by being in his midst we are not afraid! Remember the last time we felt threatened but when we had someone bigger - a big brother or our daddy we were safe! Someone is there to hide behind! And when that covering turns out to be our Lords shadow as we huddle under the shadow of his wing we KNOW we are safe!!!!

Next, He reminds us He rejoices over us with gladness. He is not mad he is glad just by being with us! It's like when I'm with my daughter for the day... I'm glad! To be glad is when you're just at complete peace! It's the kind of peace you have when you have nothing to do, no place to be and it's a beautiful day, not hot not cold its just right and you are at peace...everything just makes you glad!

Then next is the best part - He rejoices over us with singing!! I can't tell you how many times I have busted into song over my daughter during the day... " you are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy..." or my favorite when she was very little and in the tub..." Oh, I wish I was a little bar of soap...". The best mornings were when she was around 1 and she would wake me up over the intercom singing..."this is the day that the Lord has made..." What fun we had! Have you ever just woke up with a song in your heart? The one you humm on all day as you clean or take the dog for a walk? I like to think it's because He was singing it over me as I slept! But it's fun to just burst into a love song over your children. The hardest heart begins to melt! The more sluggish and tired child gets a spring in his step! The most grumpy child won't help but to crack a smile when you grab him up hug him tight and below out the love lyrics as loud as you can! This is what God does for us!! All the singing and hymns that can go out into your children ears will be there in the memory of one having a tough day in harder days ahead and will just hide its self there waiting to be heard to bring back good memories.

The next step the psalmist takes note of is "He quiets you with His love." what a special love this is. This is the kind of love that quiets all the noise in your head and is the kind of quietness like a summer rain that cleans the air and the smell of fresh clean air refreshes your spirit so it feels like you can read into everything a special message from God! Or the quietness early morning brings before the birds start singing and before the reeds in the water start moving as the ducks awake and start waking up their babies for the day.

We need to stop letting the enemy twist our thoughts and make God into this mean monster instead of a loving parent! Isaiah 49:15 " Can a mother forget the baby that suckled at her breast?"
The enemy wants us to feel like neglected, hated and abandoned! God has written us love story after love story to help us know how He loves us! Isaiah 49:16 says "He has engraved us in the palm of his hand." How beautiful is that? He doesn't just love us He is crazy in love with us!! We need to read his love letter to us to get to know Him better and to read His heart and thoughts about us. Read how He knows the enemy and how much stronger He is than him! And He is stronger because of His Love.
Look at how much was in this verse if you just take the time to UNPACK IT! There is a gift in each line!

The Lord your God in your midst.
The Mighty one will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness;
He will quiet you with His love;
He will rejoice over you with singing".