Heavenly Father

We talked last week about how there is no reason for us to be anxious or worried in life because we have a Father. We talked about how we sometimes walk through life like we are orphans and we have to take care of ourselves and take care of everything ourselves. Why is that? We considered the possibility that we believe that God is good but we sometimes do not believe that God wants to be good to us.

Why would a good God not want to be good to us? I think this is a question of identity. We are insecure in our identity as God’s children. We believe He is a Father. We pray, “Our Father in heaven…” or we say, “Dear heavenly Father…” But to some, “Father” is more His Name, like a title, than it His position in respect to us. What do I mean? Everyone has a father, but not everyone has a father. We all got here because science works, the laws of nature that God put in place work. I have a biological mother and a biological father, we all do. Now, depending on who raised us, our biological father may not be the person we look to as our father. Maybe we were raised by a stepfather or may have had another male father figure in our lives who we consider to be our father. How we relate to them depends on the nature of the relationship we had with them.

As Christians, I feel as though sometimes we treat our heavenly Father, like an absentee Father. We have a somewhat strained relationship with Him but it does not need to be that way. We have an open invitation into a deep, loving, never ending, all consuming, unrestrained relationship with Him where we can know Him and be fully known by Him. I have a biological father who contributed to me being physically born in the earth. I also have a spiritual father, who has contributed to shaping me spiritually and helping mature me as a follower of Christ. But most importantly, I have a heavenly Father and so do you.

Our heavenly Father knit you together in your mother’s womb. He whispered your name long before even your grandparents existed. He has been with you since before you were born, He is with you now and He will be with you when you cross over into eternity. You have a Father. Not just by name but an actual, present Father. One who loves you beyond words. I can go on and try to find the words to express how deeply Papa God cares about your, but there is a man called King David, who had a way with words that only I can aspire to. He said as follows:

“Lord, you know everything there is to know about me. You perceive every movement of my heart and soul, and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind. You are so intimately aware of me, Lord. You read my heart like an open book and you know all the words I’m about to speak before I even start a sentence! You know every step I will take before my journey even begins. You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way, and in kindness you follow behind me to spare me from the harm of my past. You have laid your hand on me!

This is just too wonderful, deep, and incomprehensible! Your understanding of me brings me wonder and strength. Where could I go from your Spirit? Where could I run and hide from your face? If I go up to heaven, you’re there! If I go down to the realm of the dead, you’re there too! If I fly with wings into the shining dawn, you’re there! If I fly into the radiant sunset, you’re there waiting! Wherever I go, your hand will guide me; your strength will empower me.

It’s impossible to disappear from you or to ask the darkness to hide me, for your presence is everywhere, bringing light into my night. There is no such thing as darkness with you. The night, to you, is as bright as the day; there’s no difference between the two. You formed my innermost being, shaping my delicate inside and my intricate outside, and wove them all together in my mother’s womb. I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex! Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking. It simply amazes me to think about it! How thoroughly you know me, Lord! You even formed every bone in my body when you created me in the secret place;  carefully, skillfully you shaped me from nothing to something. You saw who you created me to be before I became me! Before I’d ever seen the light of day, the number of days you planned for me were already recorded in your book.

Every single moment you are thinking of me! How precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your every thought! O God, your desires toward me are more than the grains of sand on every shore! When I awake each morning, you’re still with me,” Psalms 139:1-19.

That is how much Papa God cares about you. Now, what would your life look like if you actually believed that to be true? What would you do differently? God is not out to get you, He is thinking about you day and night, and none of it is bad! It is all good, because He is good and He loves you immeasurably. We need to accept who we really are, and that is children of the most loving Father there can ever be, Papa God.

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.