So imagine hearing this beautiful saxophone line just below the din of the car horns and wet tires bustling down the busy street. You can not quite make out the tune, but mixed in with all these other sounds, you can definitely identify the soulful melody. Maybe that conjures a different aural image for you, but I wonder if you can allow yourself to imagine Zephaniah 3:17 in that context.
Or maybe for you it is a foot-stomping guitar groove muted from across the yard, and almost hidden behind the nearly closed barn
doors. You can feel it in your gut, even though your ears can not quite make out if all that sound is coming from just six strings. Can you hear it?
Zephaniah 3:17 English Standard Version (ESV)
17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
This is such an incredible, yet elusive view of God’s countenance toward us. Have you heard it? When you do, you are torn between just listening and joining in. But first you must hear it, and believe you really do. Only once to hear it, can you join it.
And I wonder what it sounds like when you do hear it? Jazz, bluegrass, classical, rock, R&B, etc. There are so many different styles, and God uses them all. But these varied ways God “sings” over us are not limited to musical styles as we might define them. Sometimes it is simply a gentle reassurance of His presence WITH us. Other times it is the awareness that once again He has saved us from ourselves, or someone else. It is laughter and smiles, and quiet rest, just to name a few.
Have you identified the ways God most clearly speaks to you? The ways He most obviously reminds you of His love. You may appreciate and even wish you could enjoy the way someone else describes how God speaks to them, but it is imperative that you get OK with the way He speaks to you.
You may have affinity for a myriad of styles, but nothing will get your blood pumping quite like those He has fashioned you to respond to in the core of who He has made you to be.
And that’s OK. Your approach to Him will vary from your neighbors, even though the central story you will each hear, when you really listen, will be the same. You are loved.
I want to encourage you to listen again, with your heart, and learn to rest in the ways that the Mighty Savior sings His love over you. That’s why these words are here, to help you identify and more passionately and consistently resonate with the song He is singing even now.
Keep listening, and reading…
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