The Father's Love

A man has many roles in life. He can be a friend, a son, a brother, a dad, an uncle, a coworker, you get the idea. God too has many roles. He is our Lord, our Savior, our Rock, Redeemer, Provider, Healer.. I realized that most people can accept God as Lord and Savior but it’s harder for people to accept God as a Father and the unfailing love He has for us.
 

Unfortunately in today’s generation, there are many households with a lack of fathers. With divorce rates at about 50%, single mothers is a common and growing trend. On the other hand, many times a father may live at home but does not play an active role as a parent who spends quality time with their child or is in close relationship with their child.

 

I did not get to experience the unconditional love a father is supposed to show his daughter. My dad was always in and out of the picture and this was normal to me. Most of my friends who had dads at home, didn’t have a close relationship with their father so I didn’t feel like was missing out on anything. Little did I know that my relationship with my dad would affect my relationship with God.

I find that the way we view our earthly father affects the way we view our heavenly father because how we view God determines how we approach God. It’s one thing to know that God loves us and it’s another thing to accept the love He has for us and allowing it to transform our every being.

I remember learning that we are called to be more Christ-like and I thought to myself, “Wow, those are really high standards set.” I went through a season of obsessing over making sure I was ‘pleasing’ God in every aspect of my life. When I fell short in an area, I was really hard on myself because my mindset was me wanting to be 'good enough'. It was a season of complete righteousness and obedience but without any grace for myself.

Not having experienced unconditional love from my own father made it harder for me to accept God’s perfect love for me. I’ve read in the Bible that God loves me but I still felt like I had to earn His love. Like any child, you want your dad to be proud of you but I felt like I had to be perfect in order for God to be proud of me and for me to feel worthy of His love.

A wonderful friend of mine told me a great analogy. There’s a dad and a young son. The dad loves to cook and the son wants to be just like his dad. To please his dad, the son tries to cook a big breakfast for him. His son doesn’t know what he is doing and makes a big mess while trying to cook. The dad comes into the kitchen and he doesn’t yell at his son because he already knows what his son is trying to do and it warms his heart to know that his son was doing something for him out of love. This helped me realize that even when we are trying to please God, we will make mistakes and when we do, God won’t love us any less, nor can we make Him love us any more. He knows the intentions of our hearts and is pleased when we are trying to please him.This simple yet profound story helped me understand and accept the grace God has for us.

I no longer approach God as this holy and mystical deity that I praise and worship; I approach Him as a Father that loves and cares for me; a Father that desires a relationship with me and wants to be in communion with me in every aspect of my life; a Father who wants to comfort me during trials and rejoice with me when times are good. 

Many people are weighed down by hurt and pain from the relationship from their earthly father, but we have to keep in mind that we have a perfect and loving heavenly Father. The great thing about God is that our past never defines our future or our relationship with Him.

Even the best dad pales in comparison to God. God is an active father, working on behalf of His children; He is bigger than any obstacle we may be facing; He is always near; He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5); God loves us with an unfailing love; He pursues us; He knows us intimately and cares about the little things we think no one else cares about; He cares about every detail of our lives; He loves us more than we will ever know.

Jesus on the cross is the ultimate symbol of God’s love for us. The forgiveness of our sins enabled us to know God and experience a relationship with Him. Jesus was forsaken so we wouldn’t have to be. Despite the human feelings that may weigh us down, the truth of the Word is God is all powerful, all knowing, ever-present and all loving.

He captured me with His grace, redeemed me with His mercy and captivated me with His unfailing love.

How He Loves by David Crowder Band

Lost and Found

The last six months have been such a challenging and growing experience for me. It started with the ending one relationship to the beginning of another. I was with a great guy for two years but that chapter ended because there was an even better relationship that my heart yearned for, that relationship is with my Lord and Savior.

 

I was ready to give my life and my everything to this person who I was so in love with but the Lord’s love for me called me to do His will and not my own. This made no sense to me at the time but as I began to seek Him, I began to see things more clearly.

 

My identity and affirmation became consumed with my relationship instead of who I am in Christ. I was commiting idolatry by putting this relationship over my relationship with God. I put my hope in a person instead of in the one who created me. I realized that God’s plan for us is so much better than the plans we make for ourselves. I am called to be so much more than what I planned for myself. We have a destiny in Christ and it takes a step of faith to trust His will for us.

I will admit this wasn't an easy process. It took me awhile to deal with the break up. I brushed any form of vulnerable feeling under the rug. I distracted myself with extreme productivity to the point where I became too busy to even have feelings, I became numb. I did not want to deal with the issues head on, I just wanted to move forward and quickly at that. I even considered jumping into another relationship, which would have been a faster way to move on but thankfully, I realized how silly that would have been to try to give myself to someone again when I had yet to learn how to completely give myself to God first.

I was in that season for a lot longer than I expected. I kept praying for God to help me get over it but God didn't want to help me get over the situation, He wanted to help me get through it. Sometimes God doesn't change our situation because He is trying to change our heart.There were heart and character issues that needed to be addressed. I kept wanting to deal with it my way but that only got me so far. It wasn't until I was finally able to surrender myself, admit and repent my short comings, that I finally started dealing with the situation the way God wanted me to.
 

As hard as it was the last few months, I wouldn’t change any part of it. God never promised it would be easy but indeed it would be worth it. (Romans 5:3-5) His ways may not make sense to us sometimes but we have to keep in mind that His ways are higher and that He works all things together for our good, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

 

My brokenness brought me closer to the Father who loves me with an unfailing love that far surpasses understanding. I was finally able to completely surrender myself to Him and began experiencing the intimate relationship that He wanted so much for me to have with Him.

 

I cry Abba, Father, and He hears me. It was only until I was able to surrender every piece of my broken heart, which was when God was able to heal me and make me new again. It took me awhile to admit my brokenness because as holy as He is, all I wanted was to present to Him someone holy and righteous in every aspect but I soon realized that He wants all of us, the good, the bad, the ugly. He wants us as we are, He loves us as we are. The breaking of my pride brought me to a genuine place of humility, a place where my heart was open to truly receive the Lord's mercy, grace and love. This was followed by the breakthrough I needed in my life.

 

When we hit a bottom, we will find that He is the Rock below. I found refuge in Him. I discovered that the Rock at the bottom was the foundation that I needed to be built stronger, better, with divine purpose. This was when I was truly made new in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17

 

According to the book of Mark, Jesus stated that the most important commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind and with all your strength. I am so thankful that God blessed me with a season where I truly learned to have complete dependence on Him and where He’s able to be everything to me that He says He is:  My Savior, my Lord, my Refuge, my Rock, my Strong Tower, my Healer, my Father, the greatest love of all.

 

The more confident I become with who I am in Christ, the more I recognize God’s work in my life. How marvelous are His works.. I’ve been so blessed to witness His good works in me and through me.

I'm living my life completely for the one who created me. My purpose is to share His love with the world and bring glory to His name because He is so good and so worthy.

I was lost but now I'm found, I was blind but now I see.

 

Listening to: One Thing Remains by Kristian Stanfill