Monday, January 21, 2008

Kindness

I came across this verse in my devo time recently.
I was familiar with it and you may be too but try reading it as if it's the first time -

"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."
Zephaniah 3:12

The study I'm doing this week is on the kindness of God- how God is oh so much more than just a Judge over us but He is a nurturing parent to us.

I loose sight of being a mom sometimes in the midst of trying to be a mom! You know what I'm talking about - and selfishly there are times when I just want to be the one BEING nurtured! Anyone with me here? ;)
What a great verse to reflect on - that God is delighting in me just as I delight (most of the time ;) in my children! That he will hold me and comfort me and quiet me with tenderness just as I do. His kindnesses towards me are overwhelming as I allow him to rejoice over me and be a parent to me - the parent!

Another thought that made me go "wow" - A quote from my study suggests this: (after reading Mark/Matthew when Jesus was hanging out with children)
"As I see the tenderness Christ held in His heart for children, I wonder sometimes if He did not consider time spent with children as the closest thing to heaven on earth!"

4 comments:

BeckyG. said...

Thanks so much for the reminder!
It is so amazing to read that God loves us as a parent does their child. That same kind of love that bursts out of us and we can't describe it. The amount of joy we sometimes get while looking at our child blows my mind sometimes!

Anonymous said...

Yup, I agree! And remember too, that just as your kids don't have to DO anything to receive your love, neither do we, He loves us just b/c He made us and we are His! I get stuck sometimes thinking I need to DO great & important things, but I take tremendous joy in watching my kids just do everyday stuff and do it well and use their God-given talents and gifts, so I need to rest knowing God feels the same way about me. What great joy,huh?

The mom~ster said...

Isn't it good to know that we can go to HIM to receive the grace and strength to be the kind of parent we should be...sometimes I just can't do it of my own volition. It is a comfort to know I can learn from HIM and then be enabled by HIM.
thanks for sharing

Bugle Boy said...

Jesus said, "Let the little ones come to me." Somewhere in that sentence, there is a set of parentheses, which includes: snotty noses, skinned knees, disobedience, constant talking, interruptions, spilled beverages (usually red), impatience, and the question "WHY?". However, there is more: hugs and kisses, excited squeals, tickle fests, wrestling, love notes, precious moments, pictures, and admiration. Amazingly, our Lord knew what He was getting Himself into, and the attention we give to our kids (in spite of all the things that can cause us to doubt our parenting or do the wrong things ourselves) is SO important!

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