The Quiet of God's Love
jo Crosby
As counselors, we are reminded that life can be noisy. Harsh circumstances can make the heart feel messy and loud. Rest can be evasive when you are hurting. Stress can be deafening. Bitterness is basically a full-blown brawl in your mind. A demanding schedule can make a life disordered. Confusion can fade the peace of the quiet.
Life can be noisy; no one is immune.
If life has become noisy for you lately,perhaps these words will help guide you to the True Quiet.
“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
We underestimate God’s love; maybe not all of the time, but some of the time. If we are not careful, we put God’s love in a box we can carry, and we deliver it to other people in a package that can be understood. We contain it! If we are not careful, a situation can appear either too big or too trivial to abide in the shelter of God’s love. We measure it! If we’re not careful, circumstances, schedules, and both losses and gains shape our image of God’s love. We distort it! It’s a trick of the deceitful heart and a scheme of the Evil one to lead us to perceive God’s love as containable, measurable, and boundary driven. In both the ordinary routine of life and in stench of the wasteland, we can underestimate God’s love. When this happens, the heart can become restless and chaotic; life can become noisy.
Thankfully, scripture guides our heart to see beyond what we can think and feel. And, God’s Word is clear that his love is without measure. His love is high, wide, long, and deep (Ephesians 3:17-19). It is bigger than any problem we face. God’s love is larger than what we can mentally conceive; yet, perfectly able to fill the tiniest corners of our heart. With faithful love, God’s hands tend the expanse of the heavens and the smallest of sparrows. Friend, with faithful love, God’s hands tend you!
His tending, presence can be a quieting experience.
God’s love quiets your life.
So what does it mean to be quieted by God’s love? The prophet Zephaniah was led to write the words, “he will quiet you with his love” to a people in peril. To a people in captivity. To a people, dearly loved, but deeply hurting. The prophet’s words echo a message of hope. Hope for the homeless; hope for the desperate; hope for the disheveled faithless; and hope for the broken. God’s love is for the weary within the dreary of life. God’s love is for the faithful and obedient. His love exists for all of us.
In the chaos of your day, quiet your heart. Listen to the song of love that God sings for his children. Listen to the words meant just for you.
God’s love quiets your life.
Blessings,
Jo
HEART LOVE
LORD, quiet my heart, with your love,
Pull me close; hold me tight.
Wipe every tear; hush every anxious word,
Comfort me; calm my breathing.
Whisper my name.
Trace my smile; delight in me.
Examine the things I bring before you; search me.
Clean my thoughts; make my heart sparkle.
Show me love that only the eyes of my heart can see.
Slow my day; lead me to be still before you,
Sing over me.
Adonia, as only you can, quiet my heart, with your love.
--Jo Crosby
