A Fatherly Voice

I don’t know about all of you but I had a decent relationship with my dad growing up, but not even close to what I really desired. My best friend in 7th grade had an awesome dad. When he would see her, his eyes would light up, he would hug her and tell her how beautiful she was, he loved her company and truly wanted to spend time with her and always wanted the very best for her. I loved being around their family because I would marvel & admire the relationship that they had, but would be secretly jealous that I didn’t have that with my own dad. My father was a great provider monetarily, he was generous, he tried to give me the best of everything including education, social opportunities, nice clothes, fun vacations, but all those things never really satisfied like what I saw with my best friend and her dad.

I have found that a lot of the time, the relationship that someone has with their earthly father can shape how they feel about their heavenly Father. I remember as a young girl thinking that God was very distant, didn’t really count me as particularly important, but I was sure that He would always take care of my needs. It wasn’t until I got older that I was able to see that He, Father God, had so much more to offer and that He would never disappoint. In our chapter, the author describes how Father God knows us by name, how He personalizes His messages for us, and how He directs us and corrects us without condemnation and guilt.

Perhaps I didn’t get the earthly dad of my dreams, but I am so grateful that God has filled in the gaps that my dad couldn’t fill and continues to reveal more of His loving self to me. I feel His love overwhelm my at times when I worship, I have felt comfort in times when I have been in situations where defeat and sadness really should rule and I have felt complete joy when He has used me to serve Him or has provided for me in a way that I felt I really didn’t deserve or expect. I know that He is thrilled when I spend time with Him, He thinks that I am very important and will always make time for me and He continues to provide for all my needs - physical, spiritual and emotional.

So what was/is your relationship with your earthly father? Does that relationship reflect how you feel about God? Have you asked God to fill in those missing parts that your earthly father maybe refused to fill or just was not capable of filling?

Your assignment: Share with the group the answers to the questions above. And if you really want to go deeper, list the characteristics of a father that you are missing or craving for and try to find a scripture that proves God to be faithful to us in that area.