God is . . . Father

This may be a tough one for those who had less than stellar fathers.  Often we transfer any negative feelings we have for our earthly fathers onto our heavenly Father. This was true in my case. Being adopted, this concept of God as a loving Father was a bit difficult.  I mean, what loving father gives away his child?  The answer is that in this imperfect world, full of imperfect people, and imperfect situations, these things happen.  Fathers do give away their children, just as some fathers who keep them can be abusive or distant or uninvolved, critical and overly demanding, or possess a dozen other negative qualities. Countless works of fiction as well as psychology texts are filled with such stories, and all could make you cry.

So, in light of this, how does God stack up? Can we really compare Him to an earthly father? Well, yes, and no.  The best father is only a shadow of what our heavenly Father is like, for the best father suffers imperfections, as do we all, and God is perfect.  And that means He’s also a perfect father. His one overriding emotion for us is love.  He’s on our side; in our corner.  He’s there pulling for us; rejoicing over us when we succeed; hurting for us when we fail. 

But make no mistake.  He’s no pushover.  A perfect father wouldn’t be.  He knows how to administer discipline when it’s needed.  But the discipline is always done in love and with our best interest in mind. And it’s never administered in anger, frustration or disgust.

The Bible tells us that, “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 KJV)  Now that’s a mouthful. But we can believe it.

God has a father’s heart, and it’s full of love for us.  And to me, the wonder is this: God knows us better than anyone—all those secret failings, that unbecoming nature, those unkind thoughts, and yet loves us anyway! Amazing.  And even more amazing is that this incredible God, the creator of the universe, wants to call us His children and to be the prefect Father to us.  He’s a Father we can tell anything too.  And why not?  He knows it all anyway.  He’s a Father we can count on.  A Father Who will never leave us or forsake us and Who loves us with an everlasting love.

The Bible tells us we are to honor our earthly fathers.  But let’s not forget to also honor God, our perfect heavenly Father Who yearns to call each of us His child. 

Until next week,

Sylvia