When you feel like the world is ticked at you...

When you feel like the world is ticked at you...

by Rick Duncan
Cuyahoga Valley Church

"Am I really and truly a Beloved Child?" Most of us wonder about that. We struggle with shame and guilt. We struggle with feelings of worth and value. We are sure that God is ticked at us.

Why is that?

Some of us go to work everyday and we wonder if the people in charge really want us there. Others of us grew up in homes where our parents said, “You’ll never amount to anything.” And just this last week, someone heard, “I don’t know why I ever married you.”

You need – you really need – to know what God thinks.

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

We are His Beloved Children. Jesus hasn’t just saved us. He’s actually delighting in us. Two words here: Rejoice (sus) means "exult" and gladness (simchah) means "mirth." It’s like God is at a party and He's dancing because of us.

Is that overstated? I don’t think so. "As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 62:5).
Does God delight in you because you are so lovable? No. The Bible says that we hated God and were His enemies. Does He delight in us because we are so “together”? No. We’re sinful through and through.

In spite of all that, Jesus brings us before the throne of grace and is proud of us. God delights in us because of Christ and what He’s made us to be. It’s with the blood of Jesus that we’ve been washed and made new.

"I will rejoice… and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard no more" (Isaiah 65:19, NLT).
Too many of us believe that God is a “ticked off” God. Yes, He’s just. Yes, He’s holy. And yes, He disciplines his children. And we should never presume upon His grace.

But at the end of the day, you’ve got to know that through Christ Jesus, God delights in His people. 

God not only loves you, He likes you. You are so loved that Jesus delights in you. And because He delights in you, you can delight in yourself... and someone else.

Question: How will you live new today because God rejoices over you?