Zephaniah 3:17

Yesterday started off like any other Sunday in the Hershey household.  Everyone was up and ready-to-go and off to church.  We call Faith Church our home.  This is the very church I grew up in.  I love this church.  

It is so much more than just a building to me, a place to worship God.  

It is a family to me.  A community of people on different journeys...brought together by the common thread of desiring to worship God and grow in their understanding of and relationship with Him.  

And, as I sat in the church pew during the worship service, I was STRUCK by (...and my mind keeps coming back to...) a key verse from Pastor Joel's message:

ZEPHANIAH 3:17
"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."

One reason this verse struck me was because my mind immediately raced to a familiar song, "Mighty to Save," and I began recalling the tune and lyrics of it.  This song is beautiful and holds a special place in my memory.  As we waited (...and waited...and waited...and longed for a child for several years...), this was ONE OF THOSE SONGS that really spoke to me.  It touched a place in my heart.  It brought tears to my eyes.  Countless times, I BELTED this song out in our home or in the car as it came on the radio.  (...For those of you that know me well, know I cannot sing to save my life...but I found such peace and fulfillment in still belting this song of praise out to God.)  I cried to this song.  I literally wept to this song.  I found hope in this song.

I may or may not know what you're going through right now.  You may be in the deepest of valleys...going through a crisis or dealing with junk that's incomprehensible.  You may be attempting to resolve a relationship.  You may need forgiveness.  You may be clinging to a hope that you'll find work or be able to pay for this month's rent or mortgage bill.  You may not have even felt like waking up today.  The stress of life is yucky.  It can feel hopeless...depressing...and just straight-up crappy...at times.  

I'm not sure what you think about God or how you feel about going to church.  You may be completely against it...hurt by it...turned off by it.  Or, you may know God and may have your own stories of how certain songs have touched your life, how songs have helped you to heal or grieve or feel loved.  

Either way, my hope is that you can take a minute, and listen to this song.  May it touch your heart.  May it uplift you today.  May it start your day off knowing that there's hope for today and hope for tomorrow.  You are special.  You are loved.  

God loves you.