When life is hard and God seems silent, it can make you wonder if he really cares or if he is even there. In the middle of pain and heartache, learning to lament protects our heart from the temptation to cynicism and unbelief and opens the door to deeper intimacy with God instead.

Zephaniah’s “Christmas card” offers a brief glimpse into the expansive beauty of the gospel. God is both the just judge and the gracious savior. In Jesus, God has taken away the judgments against us—so we can sing and rejoice in his gift of salvation. And when we accept his gift, God himself rejoices and sings over us.

The Lord leads Israel out of Egypt….and into a dead end. It looks like a mistake that will result in their destruction. But it is really God’s design to get glory over Pharaoh by delivering his people in the most impossible and unexpected way.  The Red Sea miracle foreshadows the greater salvation of God’s people to come in Jesus. Through Moses, God saved his people from physical slavery in Egypt. Through Jesus, God saves his people from spiritual slavery to sin and death. God gets glory by saving his people.