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.
Zephaniah 3:17
Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so….
A baby cries. It is in need. Mothers and fathers hold them, in warm embrace, rocking, soothing, singing, feeding, telling this little one who is completely dependent on us… it’s going to be okay. Because we are depending on “our” Father Who says “it will be okay”.
How sweet is God’s love. As I grow in my walk year by year, He takes me to greater and greater comprehension of His love for His children. For me. Gracious Oh Lord, He is! To not only save me from my wretched sins and keep me in His love for the promise of eternity, but day by day, He soothes me with His love. His every word, His every promise, His very presence.
We sang over our newborn Isaac. Laying our hands upon his weak body, hooked up to a ventilator, after suffering a stroke, so sick, his lungs unable to keep him alive, his kidneys malfunctioning, and his heart appearing to not be working in proper order…. we SANG. Jesus Loves me we sang over him. Each time we had to walk away, drive home, (I still tear up having to leave my baby behind and go home without him-and yes he’ll be 14 this month) we knew God was continuing to sing over him. That God was in the midst. He was not only singing over our son, He was singing over us. Supernaturally quieting with His love that says “he will never leave us or forsake us.” Each new day as Isaac grew stronger in the NICU (because God chose to SAVE HIM!) we rocked him in our arms, held him near our heart, and soothed his cries. Quieting him. Years that followed God would quiet me in His love as I spoke God’s word to our son, quieting him again again in God’s love as he faced each hurdle, overcoming the difficulties of a stroke affected brain.
That’s just what parent’s do. We sing over our babies. Let us acknowledge why this just wells up inside of us as a natural part of being a parent with our young ones. God our Father, Creator of life, Savior, Creator of us, our children. He is our example. He sings over us, saves us, the MIGHTY ONE, rejoices over us, and yes…. if we really submit as a “little child” acknowledging how helpless we are and in great need minute by minute of our FATHER…. HE WILL INDEED QUIET US WITH HIS LOVE. I find myself experiencing this in new levels as I seek His will and more of Him day by day.
I shared this verse with our boys the other day. Sharing with Isaac what I just shared here with you. As well as sharing with our Maximus all the nights he struggled as infant, appearing to be in distress from tummy pains – something more than just typical needs. I rocked him. I sang. A LOT. And what a confidence we are given by God our Father in heaven, that He is doing this to even greater perfection and measure for us, for His children.
One night, I was not with Maximus as a 1 1/2 year old sleeping peacefully in his crib. An electronic device had malfunctioned and shot across him to damage his closet, as well as set a fire on his blanket he was wrapped inside of. I awoke the next morning, in shock. Seeing my baby still asleep and God had saved him. The burn mark in his blanket could have spread as fire does. IT didn’t. As the scripture goes, God was in the midst, mighty to save, quieting Maximus with His love.
My 12 year old burst into tears. God saved me mom! He saved me! As he reflected, knowing God didn’t have to do this, but He did.
God calls us to child like faith. The greatest saving, God ever has done is saving us from the burning fire of the pit of hell. He sent His Son to this earth to go to cross to save those who will receive His love. But as my 12 year old, recognized the magnitude of what God had truly done, we must recognize the severity of the situation we are in. The sin that separates us as we depend on ourselves rather than Christ. Apart from Christ, we will endure fire that will consume us for eternity. God is ready and mighty to SAVE. To forgive. To set free. Ready to stop that fire. As he stopped the fire from touching our son. He is ready to stop the fire that would consume us forever apart from receiving His love. Surrender, acknowledging we do not deserve this. God did not have to do this. As Maximus realized, and demonstrated in weeping, in gratitude, in the depths of his heart, mind and soul, what God had done for him. Celebrating GOD’s amazing love.
I haven’t walked every single day in this “quiet of His love” at all. As an infant is totally dependent on his parents for all his needs, I know that is where I find my greatest experience of God’s love. The times I truly surrender, acknowledging my dependence on my Father, is when I walk in greater measure of this “quiet place”. His sweet love.
God is continually sanctifying His children. This journey is special because as we learn to depend on Him more and more, grow in His grace and knowledge, His LOVE is experienced more and more. A Father saving us, feeding us, holding us, speaking to us with His every WORD, singing over us. He is rejoicing in the Savior’s work in His beloved children. Saving us moment by moment day by day until eternity.
May we all experience the MIGHTY ONE, ABLE TO SAVE. And rejoice in the God of our Salvation Who rejoices over us!! Saving us from our fears, anxieties, difficulties, and giving us strength as He feeds and cares for us as a gracious loving Father. Holding us in His everlasting arms.
“The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms”
Deut. 33:27-28
Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.
Matthew 18:2-5
