God delights in you.
Do you believe it? This morning the Lord brought to my mind a situation that I shared in the Bible study that I published recently but it didn’t make the cut by the publisher.
I talked about how one morning I was home alone working on my long to-do list. Sometimes I like to bundle my routines so I got on my stationary bike as I prayed for the various people God had laid on my heart. I love praying scripture so that morning I was praying Zephaniah 3:17 for the various people.
The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
As I prayed this verse over a particular person who hurt me months earlier I was gripped with emotion. Each word echoed in my heart,
Heavenly Father, I pray that ___ would realize that you are in __ midst. I thank you for being our almighty God who is mighty to save us. May ___ realize in the depths of their heart this reality. You take great delight in ___ and in your love you no longer rebuke ___ but instead you rejoice over __ with singing.
You guys I couldn’t finish that prayer without sobbing. I was choked up when I got to the words, “You delight in ___”. This person had hurt me with their choices. I had already forgiven them. They had already gone to you for forgiveness.
God Delights in You–Believe it.
But as I prayed this prayer I realized that in my disappointment I couldn’t even imagine God delighting in them. God not rebuking them but instead rejoicing over them with singing.
My thoughts convicted me so I asked God for forgiveness.
I also had to ponder something else –Why was it so hard for me to believe this truth about God? As I pondered this thought I came to the realization that I struggle with believing that God delights in me. I can’t give to others what I don’t believe in for myself.
In that realization, I found freedom. I was in awe by His love.
Oh, that we might believe it and savor it and bring it to mind again and again until it is our very nature to feel the truth that “the godly are designed for unknown and inconceivable happiness.” Unremitting confidence in this truth would surely transform our attitudes and keep us steady in the face of great adversity.”
John Piper – Taste and See
My sisters in Christ join me in believing that God is not in heaven waiting for you to mess up. God is not in heaven shaking his finger at you. When God sees you he sees you robed in the righteousness of Christ. (Romans 5:18) And if you’re still not convinced Philippians 3:9 says, “That I may be found in Him, having the righteousness of God. We walk throughout our day enrobed and clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
The Lord delights in you.
Repeat that with me–The Lord delights in me.
Will you believe this truth over your life today?
