His Word Is Truth

It was the summer when I was 18 years old that God brought me to Germany to teach me one of the most important lessons of my life. I was going through a hard time in University and my self-image was at an all time low. I was part of a church fellowhip and had been nurtured well in my Christian faith there. One woman from the church offered me the opportunity to go to 'Love Europe' OM Summer Missions. My church sponsored me to go. I was to travel across Europe on a bus. I remember thinking 'what do I think I'm doing?' and 'how could I share my faith in Christ with others, when I didn't have confidence in my own faith in God?'
However God had plans for me there. One evening the main speaker challenged us to question if we put barriers between us and God that were preventing us moving forward in our faith. The conviction I was under was real and the burdens I had been carrying around with me became very heavy. There was an opportunity to pray with counselors afterwards and I took the plunge and responded.
I was asked to think on a verse; that verse was Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

The questions I was asked with regard to the verse were; 'Did I believe this verse?' and 'Did I believe God loved me this much?'. I had until the next morning to ponder these questions and then I was to meet up again with the same women as the previous night. That night I couldnt sleep, there was a stirring in my soul and an over riding conviction of unbelief in God's Word. Did I believe what this verse was saying and if I didnt, did I not believe in the word of God? How had I not realized that until then!

The next morning I wearily met up with the ladies, we talked long and deep and I poured out my troubled heart to them, which at the time was alot. At the end of my time with them I was beginning to understand that maybe God did really love me.The ladies prayed for me and then it was my turn to pray and repent of my unbelief in God's Word and ask God for a revelation of his unconditional love. Amazingly God answered that prayer in that moment. The love of God washed over me, what Jesus had done for me was re-realised and I came away changed. I believed  Zephaniah 3:17 and nobody or anything could have convinced me otherwise. 

Its a long time ago now, over 20 years and that lesson has always stuck. I have let my emotions get in the way since, but God brings me back to this verse time and time again to firmly remind me that He is God and that He loves me so much He rejoices over me with singing. 

God's word is truth and in Him are no lies!