While out walking today I was listening to the Bible in One Year* in my headphones. The Old Testament passage was Zephaniah Chapters 1-3. As I listened this verse jumped out at me:
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 v17
It was this final phrase that stuck with me. Nicky Gumbel went on to say “Do you realise how much and how deeply God loves you? No matter what happens in this life God loves you. He takes great delight in you. In fact he sings over you with joy.”
It reminded me of the question on the Inspire bookmark “Am I enjoying the love of God?” As I walked I asked myself do I REALLY know and feel how much God loves me? Do I see that He delights in me? Do I really accept that he rejoices over me with singing?
I love music. It really helps me worship. Listening to my worship playlist always brings me a sense of peace and it’s surprising how many times when you put it on “shuffle” the perfect song pops up first! I love leading worship in church with the music group, singing praise and leading others into his presence. But I had never thought about God singing over me!
So in true Band style, I asked myself “Liz, what would knowing that God delights in you, that he rejoices over you with singing look like?“
As the question was too hard to answer, I threw it back to God and asked him to show me what it looks like! By this time I was heading down a road that is lined with Horse Chestnut trees. It is coming into Autumn here in the UK and the conkers are beginning to fall. On the ground were the split shells along with some conkers themselves. The newly fallen conkers are so easy to spot within the leaves as they look so glossy and beautiful. You can’t help but stop and pick one up to admire!
I was reminded of this verse:
His mercies begin afresh each morning. Great is his faithfulness; His mercies never cease. The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
Lamentations 3 v22-23
As the conkers caught my eye I felt God say “This is how I love you, how I rejoice over you”. The love he has for me is new and fresh every morning. He sees the beauty in me just like the freshness of the new shiny conker. When you look closely each conker has unique and beautiful lines and markings. He reminded me that I too am unique and chosen by him and loved completely each morning. He sees what I don’t see in myself. And so he delights and rejoices over me! Wow!
What does God delighting in you and rejoicing over you with singing look like for you? Why not ask him to show you! He may surprise you with his answer!
Liz is a missioner in Chesterfield England. Along with her husband Phil she serves on the GB Core Team and the International Steering Group.
