(This week Cheryl and I are working Disaster Response in the Little Rock area after a tornado. I am sharing devotions that I shared previously. This one was first shared April 8, 2021)

As a parent and grandparent, I take great delight in my children and grandchildren. My three daughters are very precious to me. Their husbands have become my sons. And their offspring are a joy in my life. I celebrate the good times with my children and I hurt with them when they hurt. I count them as blessings and a gift that God entrusted to my care. In spite of my joking claims to the contrary, I was not nor am I now a perfect parent. But I have tremendous love for my family and strive to be the father that God would have me be.

As deep as my feelings and affection for my children may be, it is nothing compared to the way your heavenly Father feels about you. I was reminded of that by a verse I saw shared on Facebook yesterday.

“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).

This morning I read through the book of Zephaniah. It starts out with a lot of condemnation of all those who do wrong. It speaks of destruction and God’s wrath against those who do not listen to Him or follow His ways. But the faithful remnant of Judah, those who trust in the Lord, are given words of encouragement: “The Lord has taken away your punishment” (Zephaniah 3:15).

We know that is a reality because God keeps His promises. The original audience of these words was looking forward to God’s promised Messiah. We know that was Jesus, and that His life and death and resurrection are our assurance of forgiveness and mercy and eternal life.

God takes delight in you, believers. His love that led Him to send Jesus to be your Savior is what can quiet you in times of struggle and despair and feeling overwhelmed. He rejoices over you with singing! One day I will hear that singing for myself. For now, it is enough to know that God loves me so much that his joy overflows into song.

I hope you will live today and your future days with that same confidence.