Last week my eight-year-old son, Sai, and I were driving together and listening to a song called, “The Goodness of God.” The lyrics say, “I’ve known you as a Father,” and my son asked what that meant. As I feebly attempted to explain it to him, I realized that it has always been an undisputed given to me that I call God “Father.”
I learned to pray The Lord’s Prayer as a good, little Catholic girl in school, so naturally “Our Father” became my Father too. But my son, who knows that Jesus died for our sins on the cross and lives in his little heart, has not been really introduced to God as a father figure. So I told him that God is a Father to all who believe and follow Him, especially those without human fathers or parents.
Sai’s moderately inquisitive heart was satisfied, but I think there is so much more to the story. The father he knows, my husband Alex, is a human father, one with great love and compassion for his children, but also with a fallible, sinful side to him, just like all of us. Alex loves imperfectly, whereas God The Father loves perfectly. This is not something I think I can explain to a child; Sai will have to learn as he grows about the perfect love and compassion of God by experience.
When I was growing up, I had a hard time believing in God the Father’s perfect love because my human father was so difficult to connect with. And whether we like it or not, we often associate what we know of earthly fathers with that of our Heavenly One. When my human father was present while I was growing up, I saw him as somewhat tyrannical, needing to be pleased and appeased, not overly affectionate, not verbally loving; our relationship was abusive at times. So I had trouble understanding that God was the exact opposite; I had to learn to trust the scriptures and receive them into my scared little heart.
“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”
Psalm 103:13 NIV
It took me many years to truly experience the compassion of the Father because I felt little to none from my own. As an adult, I made peace with my earthly father and his human limitations; I was no longer angry and bitter but able to forgive his inadequacies and differentiate them from God Himself.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.”
Matthew 10:29 NIV
“Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), saying, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.”
Matthew 6:31-33 AMP
My earthly father did his best to care for my physical needs until I was grown and on my own. Then I had to learn to depend on my Heavenly Father for everything from then on. He has proven to be a faithful provider, protector, promise keeper, healer and guide in every endeavor of my life.
“You received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father!’”
Romans 8:15 NLT
“…You have one Father, and he is in heaven.”
Matthew 23:9 NIV
I can only imagine how difficult it must be for earthly orphans to see God as the Father they never knew, a loving Father that will adopt them and fill their every physical, spiritual, and emotional need. And yet, now that my earthly father has passed away, I can receive that fulfillment as well.
“Although my father…[has] abandoned me, yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].”
Psalm 27:10 AMP
“But You, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; You consider their grief and take it in hand…You are the helper of the fatherless.”
Psalm 10:14 NIV
“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”
Psalm 68:5 NIV
Now I can start teaching my son what it means to trust God as Father. I pray he will know more than I did, experience His perfect love better than I ever have, as he gets older.
Did you have an earthly father that skewed your vision of God as Father? Has God made known to you His love for you as Father? Share in the comments how this has affected your life.
The Art of Choosing True Life 