I have always loved reading Zephaniah 3 because it shows how God restores the nation of Israel and makes it better than before. This chapter reveals how God was in Israel's midst but how He is also in our midst.
"The LORD has taken away the judgements against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil."
Zephaniah 3: 15 ESV
God will never leave us alone. He is with us always. It is astounding how the prophet Zephaniah shows us how God wiped away Israel's judgments and cleared their enemies. He wiped away their shame and fears. God does the same for us in wiping away all our fear's as it says in (Psalm 34:4).
It also shows how mighty God is by how we do not have to fear evil because He defeated our enemy once and for all. God will rejoice over us and quiet us with His love.
Knowing He rejoices over me and will quiet me with His love warms my soul to know deep down I am loved. As I meditate on this scripture, letting it soak in how God is in my midst. God reassures me I am not alone.
Sometimes I am guilty of forgetting God is in my midst fighting for me. And I get into this mentality of trying to fight on my own. He did not ask me to fight my own battles.
God came to fight for me and win. He fights for me so I do not have to be afraid. He will do the same for you, because God is in our midst fighting for us.
"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 with his love, he will exalt over you with loud singing."
Zephaniah 3:17 ESV
When I lose sight of this and recognize that I have, I ask God to show me His goodness in a new way so I won't miss it. So I can see He is in my midst and how God is the mighty one who will save.
As God reminds me, He is in my midst. I can see how loving His correction is because it is never attached to shame. He never shames me for my failures. Instead He picks me up and dusts off the dirt to be wiped clean.
God will dust off the dirt to show you He is in your midst.
I have learned from reading this passage many times is how He changes our shame/fear into praise. He takes the failures and turns them for our good to display His glory. God restores what is broken and puts the pieces together better than before.
As I think about being restored better than before it brings me joy because I know with God everything is better than what it started to be.
References:
The Holy Bible English Standard Version, Crossway Publishing, Wheaton IL, 2001,
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