Fumbling Toward Jesus: God, A Good Dad (Isaiah 46: 3-4)
I feel like truly envisioning God as our real, verified, authentic Father, and even further—as our Dad—can change everything about the way we view Him and His role in our lives.
Since the word father is referenced over 1000 times in the Bible, we should definitely seek to definitively understand what behavior this relationship entails—but first we should examine what our relationship is with it.
Recently, I completed a 31-day study called She Prays by Debbie LIndell that I have previously mentioned on Steemit, and I will undoubtedly mention it again—but y’all, it really is so good. Day 5 of this study, entitled A Daughter’s Cry addresses our view of God as “The Father,” and how our views of our own earthly fathers can affect this higher view of God as our Heavenly Father.
As a kid, if I had gotten in trouble at school for things like talking too much (serious problem I had in elementary), then I was responsible for telling my dad about it when he got home from work. I remember being nervous, not wanting to disappoint him, and also not wanting to get into trouble.
Growing up, my folks were appropriately strict as far as behavioral expectations at school, and if we were in trouble at school, we were also in trouble at home. I always wanted my mom to just tell my dad so I wouldn’t have to, but that was pretty much always directly on me: I had to lay out the situation for Dad when he got home, and then after my parents had discussed the issue-at-hand, then I would receive and subsequently deal with the consequences of those actions.
And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and no shrink from Him in shame at His coming. 1 John 2:28
I remember feeling nervous...and feeling shame about that talk I knew we would inevitably be having when he was home from work. I didn’t get in trouble much, but in those moments, I was definitely lacking confidence and definitely wanting to shrink from shame at his arrival home. Even though my behavior was always of my own choosing, I hated being in trouble with anyone.
I’m really super blessed to have had an awesome, emotionally available, supportive, loving earthly father. Even when I got in trouble, my dad spoke to me with respect and explained why my actions warranted consequences. There was always consistency. There was always love. My dad has been there for me through it all, and I’m really grateful for that. But even He is the first to admit that his fatherhood pales in comparison to that of our Heavenly Father. That’s humbling to hear from a man who I feel did such a good job raising my brother and me.
On the converse, I have a good friend who didn’t have a father at all. His “father figure” was a man who lived with his mom for a number of years. He was an alcoholic and while my friend knew this man did care for him to a certain extent, there was no nurturing. There was no connection. Consequences were inconsistent and came out of nowhere, and many times were fueled by pent-up rage brought to the surface on drinking binges and he would hurt my friend. Both physically and emotionally.
Eventually, my friend would retreat to his room, where he stayed most of the time, so as not to irritate his step-father in some kind of way. As he got older, he tried his best to all-out avoid being at home, at least until he knew his step-father was drunk and passed out, so he could have some peace in his own home.
Since my friend became a father, he has made every effort to learn from the negative examples of fatherhood he experienced in his life and right them with his own son. I’ve loved watching him grow into a father who really honestly reminds me of my own. He is warm and loving and teaches his son about kindness and the importance of expressing emotion. It’s really a beautiful thing to see a really good dude become a really good dad.
Those relationships shape us, and better or worse, they do have an effect on how we view fatherhood in general. It’s complex biz.
However good or bad your experience with your earthly father has been, the experience with your Heavenly Father will be better. Period. We have to separate our image of an earthly father, with our image of our Heavenly Father. The former is an experiential reality, and the latter is much larger and better than anything we could ever truly conceive.
I’ve been carrying you on my back from the day you were born, and I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old. I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray .I’ve done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back, saving you. Isaiah 46:3-4 (MSG)
The point is this: regardless of your idea of a father, your Heavenly Father is more than that. He is perfect, He loves you, He’s got you. He had you before you were even around, He had you in the past, He has you now, and He will continue to have you for all of your days. He sent His only son to die on the cross specifically for you so you can be created anew and have a real, loving, open, and honest relationship with Him.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are. 1 John 3:1
You don’t need to fear running into His arms, and you’ll feel so good when you realize those arms are loving and ready to accept you where you are and grow you into the person He desires you to be. He will always catch you. He’s got you.
Consulted References:
Lindell, Debbie. She Prays: A 31-Day Journey to Confident Conversations with God. p.44-45. Revell, 2019.
Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance. p. 381-385. Second edition. Ed. Goodrich & Kohlenberger. Zondervan, 1999.
I am Jessamyn Orchard (@jessamynorchard), and I am a former youth pastor, worship minister, and church lay leader, who graduated from a Christian college. Most recently, however, I’m an addict in recovery who rededicated my life to Jesus about 6 months ago. I was raised in church, and saved at age 12, but I did a lot of straying over the past 10+ years, falling into pits of sin through addictions and self-pity. I’m no authority, just a believer in a big God and called to spread His word through as many conduits as present themselves to me. Fumbling Toward Jesus is a multi-media ministry campaign and includes a written blog of daily devotions on Steemit and an accompanying monthly podcast on Anchor.fm, and it represents years of study—both over the years and lately, and now combined with a whole load of human experience. I’m just a super nerdy sinner saved by a really awesome grace.
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