As we mark Father’s Day, I recognize that it holds different feelings for many. What is it for you? Celebration? Grief? Confusion? Pain? Unrealized hopes? Fun and laughter?
We find in God’s love story to us that He refers to Himself as Father. What is God telling us? The picture God draws on is of an ideal father – one not distorted by our fallen nature. It’s been shown that a strong influencer of our perception of God is what our own father is like. But whatever is missing or distorted in our own experience, God provides Himself.
Our Father God protects us, comforts us, leads us, gives us His name and provides for us. When an earthly dad is missing or distant, one of the things his children long for is to be known.
Listen to the psalmist:
Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. Psalm 103:13-14
Our God is a loving Father – a Father that made us and knows us. What a beautiful reminder. We are known more fully and intimately than any earthly father could and that intimacy leads, not to judgment or discipline, but to compassion.
If you are blessed to have had a father that modeled after Jesus, thank God for such a gift. If your heart hurts today from wishing you were known, realize that God our Father, and the King of the Universe, knows you intimately. And He loves you and has compassion on you.
3 Responses