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.
THEME OF THE DAY. THE CALMING POWER OF THE LORD JESUS. Stress, anxiety, worry, tension, and pressure are five common experiences we face in this fallen world. It doesn’t matter whether one is a Christian or not. These five painful heartaches are strong and never seem to lose their zeal in seeking to find entrance into our lives. They come largely from three sources; circumstances, situations, and relationships. Some of us have personalities more prone to these emotional upheavals, but all of us will experience them. For non-Christians, these five experiences are met in the strength of self. They lack Christ’s power and no human has the strength to overcome these painful experiences. There is a reason why many people try to cope with life and all its worries, stresses, anxieties and pressures with things like busyness, excessive recreation, long weekends or vacations away, relationships, materialism, even drugs and alcohol. They are looking to escape, to avoid, and to hide from the inevitabilities of these painful experiences. And none of them will work. Oh, for a season they will, but not for long; not for very long. No human being has the ability within themselves to cope with and overcome all that comes into their lives as a result of sin. When our first parents, Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they brought into the human experience stress, worry, anxiety, tension, and pressure (Genesis 3). Yes, those are sins, but for Christians, they don’t have to be enslaved to stress, anxiety, worry, tension, and pressure. They are overcomers in Christ and the calming power of Christ is theirs as revealed in today’s scripture.
First, Christians are overcomers because God is near them in a personal way – “the LORD your God is in your midst.” The most important word in the opening of this verse is the word “your”. God is a personal God to those who come to Him through the Personal Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Next, Christians are overcomers because God is more powerful than our fallen emotions – “a mighty one who will save.” The glorious truth of God’s mighty power working in His children to calm their stress, anxiety, worry, tension, and pressure is a willing power. God desires to exercise His power of deliverance in our lives. He wants to be our Deliverer; the calmer of our souls and He has the power to make His “want to”, reality!
Thirdly, Christians are overcomers because God silences the screaming voices of stress, anxiety, worry, tension, and pressure by the louder voice of His steadfast love – “He will quiet you by His love.” What an amazing promise to cling to when life comes upon us like a tsunami! It doesn’t read “God might quiet you if you are good.” It also doesn’t read “God will quiet you when the tough circumstance, situation, or relationship is over or removed.” No, He will do His calming of our hearts during them.
The world has no lasting answer to stress, anxiety, worry, tension and pressure. The Christian, though, does. It is found in a personal God whose name is Jesus and has the power to calm all things seeking to rob us of His peace and joy.
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for the power of Your Son to calm my fears and quiet my stress.”
QUOTE: “Our God is not only able to calm our hearts and soothe our souls, but delights in doing so.