Lessons from the Minor Prophets

The last couple weeks have actually been very good ones for me. I guess God thought I had had enough weeks of struggling and floundering, without feeling like I was getting anywhere, and decided it was time for me to see some fruit. Now, trust me, I am very aware that right after times of victory come the hardest attacks, (Katie Hefflefinger and I have had some very interesting talks about that recently. Often after a time of great blessing, we are going to be tried with a great testing. And yet on the flip side of that coin we can remember that after every hard testing comes a great blessing! ;) but for now I am content to rest in the strength of my God. I have been doing some studies in the minor prophets recently and have just completed Zephaniah. At first it seemed to me that this book was the one that was sort of boring and didn't really seem to apply to me. But then I hit chapter 3! And wow! It hit too close to home for comfort! The first two verses alone were enough to send me to my corner in shame. Zephaniah 3:1-2 "Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God." Basically Zephaniah is saying that the reason that the city is filthy and polluted is because 1. they would not obey the voice of the Lord when He tried to lead them. 2. They wouldn't even listen to correction when God convicted them of something 3. They didn't trust in God to take care of their needs etc. and finally 4. (and the most convicting for me) they didn't draw near to God. Most of the time when I am struggling in my relationship to God, I cry out to Him with that song "Draw me Nearer!" Thats great, because we need to be trusting in God to do a work in us, but at the same time we have a responsibilty to draw near too! If we aren't spending the time we need in Gods Word, aren't bringing our concerns before Him, aren't willing to take a step of faith and aren't willing to truly trust Him, why are we even surprised when we fall and feel utterly defeated? I gave myself a checklist on the four things that that verse mentions and I didn't do so great. So if you think about it, pray for me concerning each of those areas. Anyways, there was a lot more in this chapter that was helpful, but since I have a tendency to get going, and not want to stop, when I start sharing what God has done, I will just show you one more verse that really encouraged me. Zephaniah 3:17- "The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." For one thing, I liked how this verse started off by simply stating that God is mighty and He will save us from every trouble, fear, worry, heartache, etc. Secondly, two parts of this verse sort of caught me off guard when I read them. "He will rejoice over thee with joy....He will joy over thee with singing"...Usually after hearing a statement like "God is mighty" it causes me to think of the joy and peace "I" have because of my relationship with Him. But Zephaniah says that God is rejoicing and singing over us! He takes delight in us! I'm not sure what he finds in me that causes Him to sing and rejoice, but just hearing that He does is enough to send goosebumps down my arm! Ok...now for my favorite part of this verse. "He will rest in His love" I didn't understand what that was saying when I first read it because it just didn't sound right. So I sort of studied it out and when I read it in my study Bible, it said it like this "He will rest (quiet) you with His love" I don't know about you, but reading that made me feel completely calm. Gods love is enveloping us and no matter what is going on in this world and no matter how much it seems like the Devil is getting the victory, in everything going on around us, we can find rest in the love of God and it is there that we can find true rest, peace and quiet.

Chrystal