Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Of Brokenness and Healing

I originally wrote this post several years ago, but I never got around to posting it. However, the message is still very true.

    One day a few years ago, one of my friends pinned part of the verse, Zephaniah 3:17, on Pinterest. I hadn't really read Zephaniah all that often, so I decided to check the verse out:

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.


    "He will quiet you with His love." That part stuck in my head. "He will quiet you with his love." I can rest in Him, even during the times when I know family is hurting in the States or parents are going through hard times or there is that kid in class who just can't seem to play well with others or that stack of papers that needs grading or there are so many meetings I can't keep track of what I'm supposed to be doing. He will quiet me with His love.

     In Spanish that reads:  "Te renovará con su amor." He will renew you with His love. I thought that was beautiful and something I need to remember. So, after careful consideration, I had "Te renovará con su amor" written on my shoulder.

    That night I went back and read all of Zephaniah 3. I hadn't looked at the whole chapter before, just the verse. I was surprised. Verse 17 comes in the middle of a section all about God's restoration. Verses 19-20 read:

Behold, at that time I will deal
    with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
    and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
    and renown in all the earth.

At that time I will bring you in,
    at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
    among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
    before your eyes,” says the Lord.


     God is a restorer, fixing the broken and healing the hurting. I was once broken and hurting. Now I see just how much He has healed me. And even when I didn't realize how much He was fixing me and healing me, He was at work. As I  sat reading the chapter, I was completely amazed about HOW MUCH God has worked in me. Yes, there are still scars in my life, but I'm not broken anymore. There is healing in my mighty God, who quiets me with His love. Through all the hard thing in life, He has quieted me, calmed me, carried me. I am quieted by His love.

  




     
   
     

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