The Root of the Problem
It occurred to me recently that we have a problem. And this problem affects every decision that we make, and therefore the entire direction of our lives. And this is it, in a nutshell: we don’t fear God. And by that I mean we don’t have a healthy respect and awe for who He is, what He has done for us, and what He continues to do for us every single day.
Think about it: people take God’s name in vain every day, as if He isn’t a real person. I used to not even notice this, but now that I have fallen in love with Him and His word I physically cringe when I hear it. I used to have a wrong view of God too. And that comes from ignorance, lies from the enemy, and my own complacency. But when I turned to God after a season of sin and disappointment in my life and began to read His word something happened. As I read, I believed! It’s the only thing that makes sense, but we drown out the voice of the Lord with all our constant noise and busyness. We are ‘deliberately forgetting’ that we have a Creator. Think about it. The human body is simply too amazing to be an accident. So, if we want to know God, we must honor His word, see what it says, and do what it says. Only then will life begin to have meaning!
Remember when I said I asked God to help me read the Bible through the lens of His love for us? (I say that a lot) Well, it comes in really handy when reading Bible prophecy because I don’t need to pretend that I know anything that I don’t! In other words, did this prophecy happen in the past or not yet? It’s not always obvious to me. Some things are hard to understand and that’s ok! But this is what I do see: clues about the heart of God, and clues about the heart of man.
So, in Zephaniah 3:
1-God tells us how to please Him. You might be thinking; ‘why do I care if I please God?’ Right there, that thought is the problem. If you are thinking that then we have either forgotten or never knew our Creator. I’m no better because I had forgotten too. But, if you are like me and have gone on a search for Him, this verse made me excited because this is how we can know we are pleasing to God:
‘Woe to the city that is rebellious and defiled, the oppressive city! She has not obeyed; she has not accepted discipline. She has not trusted in the Lord; she has not drawn near to her God.’ (Zephaniah 3:1,2)
Those are all negative things of course, but they are telling of the things that we can do. That we should do. There are only two ways to live: following God, or not following God. He knows us better than we know ourselves so there’s no use pretending. When we turn back to Him, that is good! But it will also come with a season of discipline (hard times) which we would do well to be thankful for, because: ‘the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and he chastens everyone He accepts as His son.’ (Romans 12:6). And after a season of discipline, the Lord becomes our Defender and takes up our cause:
‘Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the Lord’s rage until he champions my cause and establishes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His salvation.’ (Micah 7:8,9).
And what exactly is my cause? This is my cause: I am a forgiven child of God! That is now the cause He is defending for me! Wow. So, as our Creator, He knows what is good for us. If we would only trust Him, He will begin to reveal Himself to us.
2-God tells us things that displease Him. This is important to look at, because even if you don’t see yourself here, some of them are easily introduced when we are not careful with our lives:
Rebellion-pride and arrogance are found here.
Defilement-not honoring our bodies as the temple they are if we truly belong to God: and doing things He says not to do. (Note: it is always for our own good! We just need the scales to fall from our eyes to see it.)
Jubilant in our possessions & security (Zephaniah 2:15). Self-made, need nothing, no concern for others.
Profane (taking the Lord’s name in vain, disregarding His word)
Violent, destructive
Reckless (I found myself here once. Because I took my eyes off God when my life got hard, I chose to believe lies and became careless with my own life.)
They do violence to instruction. (Zephaniah 3:4). (I found this phrase interesting, because they take what God says and twist into something He didn’t say. And that ends up destroying the people who fall for it.)
They know no shame. This is a big one, and if you are caught in some sin that ‘doesn’t seem that bad’, that is a dangerous place to be. That means your heart has gotten so hard, that sin no longer seems like sin! That described me once, but I am thankful that God allowed me to be miserable enough to turn back to Him. And now those same things seem appalling to me. I want to stay far away from it, and close to Him.
3-God attempts to get our attention when we wander in order to bless us.
‘I have cut off nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have laid waste their streets with no one to pass through. Their cities lie devastated, without a person, without an inhabitant. I thought: You will certainly fear me and accept correction. Then her dwelling place would not be cut off based on all that I had allocated to her.’ (Zephaniah 3:6,7)
Don’t miss the point that things are bad for you for God to be good to you! He longs to be gracious to us, but we must fear Him and humbly accept His correction! If things are bad in your life, and you are miserable like I was: maybe it’s time to take a hard look at yourself. What are your habits? What are you spending your time on? Is there any thought of God during your day? I went through a season where there was little thought of God in my life but that changed when I turned and agreed with God that my sin had to go. I knew what was wrong in my life, I just wasn’t ready to be honest. It won’t get better until we decide to honor the truth. Admit it and repent.
4-Some will harden their hearts, and some will humble themselves. This passage is so amazing: Zephaniah 3:9-20. And this is just a part of it which encouraged me:
‘For I will then restore pure speech to the peoples so that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve Him with a single purpose. From beyond the rivers of Cush my supplicants; my dispersed people, will bring offering to me. On that day you will not be put to shame because of everything you have done in rebelling against me. For then I will remove from among you your jubilant, arrogant people, and you will never again be haughty on my holy mountain. I will leave a meek and humble people among you, and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.’ (Zephaniah 3:9-12)
I had to look up supplicant. It means: ‘one who asks humbly.’ That is how we are to approach God! And He is the One who will lift you up and honor you when you get right with Him! ‘Humble yourselves, therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time,’ (I Peter 5:6). There is a future for the person who humbles themselves before God, repents of their sin, and believes that He will do what He has promised. He has removed my sin from me, and I can look forward to my future! I choose to believe that God is good and that His plan for me is better than anything I could have planned for myself. But there is a flip side to this blessing: the arrogant and haughty person who does not humble themselves before God will be removed. Don’t let that be you! Don’t be someone who ‘does not fear God’. Humble yourself now, get right with God, start showing Him that you trust Him and His word, and start living a life filled with joy and peace:
‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ (Romans 15:13)
He will fill you with joy and peace as you trust Him, and He will work on behalf of those who love Him. Choose Him.
