"But now thus says the LORD.
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
'Fear now, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine."-Isaiah 43:1 ♥
Happy Father's Day everyone!
Today also happens to be my birthday, which is pretty exciting :)
Did it ever occur to you that if you are a believer in the Lord, you are a child of God? That means that God is your Father. When Jesus taught us how to pray, He started the prayer with the words: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9). In Ephesians 1:4&5, it says that we are holy and blameless, and that in love God predestined us to be adopted into His family through Jesus Christ. Through God, we no longer live by a spirit of fear but of sonship, and we can call Him by the intimate name "Abba, Father!" (Romans 8:15).
Now, you may be tempted to compare God, the creator of Heaven and Earth, with your earthly father, a flawed human just like all of us on this planet. God is a perfect being, a being that we cannot even begin to understand completely. Some of our fathers could be following the example of Christ, but others (if not most) are too busy to come to your soccer games or dance recitals, or having affairs with the woman down the block, or even out of your life completely. We were all created with a need to be loved and accepted. Parents have the calling to love their children unconditionally so that they feel love and accepted. Because the father is usually absent in most homes, many sons and daughters go through life looking for love and acceptance in other ways.
I went through my entire life searching for love and acceptance. I had a crush on a different guy almost every month, and those guys always ended up hurting me because they were not what I really needed. I constantly found myself competing with people in academics, appearance, and talents. I always had to get an A, especially if someone else was doing better than I in school. If a girl got more attention from a boy than I did, I would do everything I could to get his attention. I was one of those people who fished for compliments on a daily basis. Of course, I never got acceptance from the things that I chased, but I fell for it every time. Every time I needed love and acceptance, I chased more and more after the things that would make me even more weak and in need of love.
Just recently, I have learned that I do not need anybody in order to feel loved and accepted. Although my earthly father has fallen short, my Heavenly Father has helped me more than I could ever imagine. Who God is and who God has made me is enough for me. As Isaiah prophecied, God calls us by name, and we are His. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says that no one can snatch His sheep out of His Father's hands (v. 29). We are safe in knowing that God will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). I do not have to do cartwheels and circus acts in order for God to approve of me; because I have His Spirit living in me, God already loves me more than I can imagine!
So, today, no matter if you have the best dad in the world, or if you have no idea who your dad is, rest in the idea that God has adopted you as His son or daughter. If your dad is an amazing godly dad who has made you feel so much love, remember that God supplied that love to you through your earthly father. If you have resentment toward your dad, remember that God is still able to supply you love through His Spirit and through other relationships in your life. The search is over: you can find love and acceptance through Jesus Christ, and through God your Heavenly Father!
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