Quiet

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is in your midst,

    a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

    he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

I sit in our house and drink in the silence.

It is rarely silent, so the silence is a treat.

I calm my busy heart and mind and savor the stillness.

It is hard to sit.

It is hard to be still.

It is hard to be quiet.

It is hard to be calm.

It is hard to wait.

I love Zephaniah 3:17.  I love all that it communicates to us about the character of God for His people. I love His nearness, His might, and His saving power.  I love His rejoicing and His gladness.  I love His exulting and loud singing.  In our home we do LOUD really, really well.  And we do glad rejoicing really, really well.  And we do singing, um, marginally well, though we still sing at the top of our lungs. I can imagine God in our midst as we cling to Him, cry out to Him, depend desperately upon Him, delight in Him.

And it is such a sweet blessing to know that in all God's majestic holiness, unmatchable might, infinite power, and joyful exultation, He is able to quiet me...by His love.  

A love that I  truly can't fathom.

A love with height, depth, length, and breadth beyond my imagination.

A love that sets captives free and binds up the brokenhearted.

And by His love he will quiet me.  When days are long and nights are interrupted, when broken things overwhelm time and ability to fix them, when tomorrow's cares seem stacked upon today's, when fragile hearts break and broken hearts are mended...

...He will quiet me by His love.