The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

 Many years ago, as I went through a long deep depression, this Scripture gave me much comfort. I clung tightly to it. The words that especially meant much to me were these: “he will quiet you with his love.” Through those words I deeply felt the compassionate love of God.

I felt God reaching out to me, wanting to be with me. We often think of God wanting us to be close to him but, have you ever thought that God needs us as much as we need him?

In her book Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, Joanna Weaver relates Robert Boyd Munger’s story about how he showed Christ around his house room by room. When they got to the drawing room they both liked it best and decided to meet and start every day together in this room. They spent wonderful hours there.

But he got busy, often forgetting to meet with Jesus. One day, as he was passing the drawing room he noticed the door ajar with the Lord sitting by the fireplace. He apologized, saying “Blessed Master, forgive me. Have You been here all these mornings?”

“Yes,” he said, “I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you.” Christ said, “The trouble with you is this: You have been thinking of the quiet time, of the Bible study and prayer time, as a factor in your own spiritual progress, but you have forgotten that this hour means something to me also.”

What an amazing thought! God misses us when we don’t spend time with Him. We mean that much to him.

I pray that you too will find wonderful times to spend with Jesus. He will delight in you.

Marja

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