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Love that quiets

There is a clamor in my mind these days.

I’m thinking of last minute wedding preparations that need to be made. 23 days and counting. There is the actual wedding event that I am preparing for. On top of that, there is the marriage to follow that I am mentally, emotionally and spiritually preparing for. I had no idea that preparing to enter the covenant of marriage would be such an intense experience for me emotionally and mentally. I knew that marriage was hard, but I thought that engagement would be more like a movie or dream sequence. I imagined myself shopping for beautiful things in luxurious places, tasting delicious foods, smelling flowers and gazing longingly into the eyes of my beloved. I overlooked the possibility of tearful breakdowns, irrational frustrations and wrestling with fear over the end of my lifestyle as a single person.
I was reading Zephaniah 3:17 earlier this week:
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.
I remember when I first discovered this verse. I was spending the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college in Daytona Beach, FL on a summer project with Campus Crusade for Christ. I was beginning to experience God’s delight in me and it was startling and wonderful. I kept asking God, “Do you really take great delight in me? How is that possible? How can I produce delight in you?” It’s been over a decade and I am still growing in my belief and confidence in God’s delight in me. I continue to ask God to convince me that I delight Him and I still struggle to believe that it’s true.
But this week, a different part of the verse captured my attention:
He will quiet you with His love
It stopped me; this thought that God’s love could have a quieting effect on me. I thought of my racing thoughts, niggling doubts and clamoring fears. I wondered if God’s love could quiet them. I prayed, “God, please quiet me with Your love.”
Now it wasn’t instantaneous, but I have been praying this every day since and I am starting to feel quieter in my mind and emotions. God’s love is soothing worried places in my mind. God’s love is also working in my schedule to produce greater periods of rest and connection with God at strategic points in my day. He is helping me to hide in Him and find peace and rest in Him despite the busyness and demand of this season of my life. I am SO thankful for how God’s love is quieting me.
Still Counting Gifts:
·         #864: 3 cancellations and 1 no show are actually gifts of time from God
·         #865: Peace in knowing that God is my provider
·         #866: The trees outside my office window have been really beautiful recently
·         #867: Camping in Door County
·         #868: When Ben dragged an air mattress, sleeping bag and pillow out of the tent so that we could star gaze comfortably
·         #869: Watching Lily swim and retrieve sticks
·         #870: Homemade butter pecan ice cream
·         #871: Campfire
·         #872: Riding a bike
·         #873: That I am remembered how to ride the bike
·         #874: When people surprise me with a visit
·         #875: When my mom meets me at the house of prayer with dinner
·         #876: Choosing a wedding ring for Ben
·         #877: Holding God’s hand all through my day

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