As Father's Day approaches, I find myself thinking about one of the most beautiful pictures of God in all of Scripture:
"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."
— Zephaniah 3:17
For many of us, our understanding of God has been shaped by performance.
We wonder if we've done enough.
Prayed enough.
Believed enough.
Obeyed enough.
We imagine God watching us with crossed arms, waiting to see whether we'll get it right.
Yet Zephaniah paints a very different picture.
The image is not of a disappointed judge.
The image is of a Father.
I picture a frightened child being picked up and held close.
The child is anxious, uncertain, overwhelmed by what he sees and feels.
The father doesn't begin with a lecture.
He doesn't explain every circumstance.
He simply holds the child until the child realizes everything is going to be okay.
Then something remarkable happens.
The atmosphere changes.
Fear gives way to peace.
Striving gives way to rest.
Tears give way to joy.
And the father begins to rejoice and sing over the child.
This is the image Zephaniah gives us.
A God who saves.
A God who quiets.
A God who rejoices.
A God who sings.
This shouldn't surprise us because it is consistent with the way God reveals Himself throughout Scripture.
When God proclaimed His own name to Moses, He said:
"The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth."
Before God tells us what He does, He tells us who He is.
Gracious.
Merciful.
Slow to anger.
Abounding in steadfast love.
Faithful.
This is the Father Jesus came to reveal.
The One who taught us to pray, "Our Father."
The One who said, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
Notice that Jesus does not describe a reluctant Father.
He describes a delighted Father.
A Father whose pleasure is to give.
A Father whose heart is toward His children.
Perhaps this is why Paul prayed that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened. He wanted us to know "the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints."
Most of us spend our lives thinking about our inheritance in God.
Paul turns the picture around.
What is God's inheritance?
Moses answered that question long ago:
"For the LORD'S portion is his people."
The Lord's inheritance is His people.
You.
Me.
His children.
When we begin to see this, something changes.
Faith stops being an attempt to convince God to love us.
Obedience stops being an attempt to earn His favor.
Repentance becomes more than turning from sin; it becomes a change of mind about who God truly is.
We begin to rest.
Not because life is perfect.
Not because every promise has manifested.
But because we are convinced, like Paul, that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Perhaps that is part of what Jesus meant when He preached:
"Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Change your mind.
See the Father.
See His heart.
See His love.
See His delight.
See the One who rejoices over His children.
The Kingdom is not first discovered by striving.
It is discovered by seeing.
And when we see Him as He truly is, we find ourselves resting in the very place He has always desired for us to be:
In the arms of our Father.
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