Resting In His Love

Can God?  Will God? As I said in this morning’s message, these are some of the greatest questions asked about God.  Another question is would God love me enough to do it? God does not exaggerate. This passage is from his heart to yours. How can it be?  What does it mean for God to be “resting in his love?”

Zephaniah 3:16 in that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. (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.

This is a unique way to put being saved. In this time of uncertainty and fear is it possible to rest? If God has confidence in what he did to save us, we should have that same confidence. Love is a bottomless subject. The devil uses many things against us. One of the most successful is to keep us from trusting God all the way. He tells us God doesn’t really mean what he says, that’s he overstating what he says. God said he would bring judgment to Israel, but he said there would be a remnant to come home. The result would be peace and love. Verse 17 says “he will rest in his love.” God’s power overcomes all the adverse powers of sin. Satan has to let go and let us rest. We can do it when we trust the Lord. When we look at marriage as two becoming one, we can see this same principle with Jesus. We can rest in his love because he rests in it.

We tend to think of emotions as a human thing. God gave us emotions. We are made in his likeness. God is full of emotion for those he created. John 3:16 says “for God so loved the world.” Sometimes we think of emotions as a weakness. They can be a source of strength. God is emotional; that doesn’t make him vulnerable.  Verse 17 says “he will rejoice over thee with joy.” It is by the power of God that he can rest in his love. Sometimes we feel God wouldn’t be comfortable around us. When we get saved, God transforms us into someone he can be comfortable with.

Think about it. God takes those who put their trust in him and rejoices over them with joy. In Luke 16 the scriptures on the prodigal son, the lost coin and the lost sheep show rejoicing on the part of the father, the owner of the coin and the shepherd. The Bible says there is rejoicing in heaven. Here is the blessing. We are a source of joy to the Lord. Sin begins in restlessness and results in wandering. What made the father happy was not the wandering but the returning. The attitude of God is rejoicing-the lost was found; the dead are alive; the wanderer has come home. The prodigal’s father said they were to eat and be merry because his son had come back home. God wants to rejoice over us. He takes pleasure in it. You wouldn’t think that one sheep out of a hundred would be so important. Why would one matter? Yet it did, so much that the shepherd left the 99 to find the lost one. When we ask God to put us in the center of him, he rejoices.

Rest is completion. The whole cycle of creation was complete. God made man. On the 7^th day he rested. He rested in its completion. When we become indifferent God still loves us, but it’s with a cramped love. When we give it all to him, God can rest. The beginning happened because of love; into eternity we will see the love of God. In eternity there will be no need for the sun; the Lamb is the light. He is the Alpha and Omega. We can place our confidence in him because he loves us. When we do, he can rest in his love. We can rest there too.

Only in the love of God is there hope. We have no idea what we’ll face, but we can trust God. If he can rest, we can. He is itching to show us love. Nothing is stronger than the power of God’s love. Nothing is surer that God’s love. Nothing is safer than God’s love. Nothing is more dependable that God’s love. This is more than words. It’s a promise. It’s real.

When we rest in him, God’s voice will be a song.  Verse 17 says “he will joy over thee with singing.” God made our voices. We can sing. He can too. Job said the morning stars sang for joy. The angels sing. God taught them. Before leaving the upper room, Jesus sang a hymn. The best singer in the universe is the Lord. And He wants things between you and Him to be such so He can sing to you.

He can rest in his love.  Are you willing to trust him enough to rest in him?