That title was used by our associate pastor awhile back, and seems to apply here. Who is your daddy?
Recently, I started reading again a book that transformed my life when I read it in the middle 70's. The book is falling apart, has many margin notes and many words underlined.
The God of All Comfort, by Hannah Whitall Smith, was written long ago, but the truths of it are timeless. The edition I have is from the early 50's.
One of the chapters I'd like to expand upon today is called, He Spake to Them of the Father.
What kind of a relationship have or did you have with your earthly father? Was/is he loving, kind, caring, available, encouraging? or distant, mean, harsh, uncaring, or unloving?
My earthly father was mostly absent from my life. Due to divorce and then death, I barely knew him. My grandfather who helped raise me, with my gramma, until I was ten, was there, but not the nurturing kind. His thoughts were only on what he wanted from me. Then, my step-father was distant and uninvolved. He would rather laugh at me than encourage or nurture me.
As you can see, thinking of God as a Father was a real stretch for me. My idea of Him was of a gray-headed old man with His thumb ready to rub me out if I displeased Him or did something wrong.
Even though I became a Christian in high school, I was never taught about the Father. That was one reason why this book impacted me so much. The chapter mentioned begins like this: One of the most illuminating names of God is the one especially revealed by our Lord Jesus Christ, the name of Father.... while God has been called throughout the ages by many other names, expressing other aspects of His character, Christ alone has revealed Him to us under the all-inclusive name of Father--a name that holds within itself all the other names of wisdom and power, and above all of love and goodness, a name that embodies for us a perfect supply for all our needs.
Christ told us that if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father. How had I missed that? To continue: Sometimes earthly fathers are unkind, or tyrannical, or selfish, or even cruel, or they are merely indifferent and neglectful; but none of these can by any stretch of charity be called good fathers. But God, who is good, must be a good father or not a father at all.
Galatians 4:6 it says: And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
The word, Abba, in Aramaic means Daddy! Although we are to reverence the Father, we are also called to see Him as our Daddy, our provider, the one who loves us more than we deserve, and who knows us better than we know ourselves. He wants the best for His children. He's not out to get us!
One more quote from the book: And in calling our God by the blessed name of Father, we ought to know that, if He is a father at all, He must be the very best of fathers, and His fatherhood must be the highest ideal of fatherhood of which we can conceive.
He is also called the helper of the fatherless in Psalm 10:14.
There is much more in this chapter about Father God, but I think you get the idea. Other chapters include: Much More vs. Much less, The Lord our Shepherd, and God is Enough.
Maybe you have no need to think better thoughts of Our Father, and for that, be grateful. But, if like me, you have had a bad impression of that name, I would encourage you to get this book. Read it slowly and thoughtfully. Though the language is a bit stilted because of the time in which it was written, nonetheless, the messages are clear.
So, who's YOUR Daddy?
Update: My second book, To Fill a Home, is ready to be sent to the publisher. Thank you for all the kind comments on Green Glass, the first book in the series. I'm planning a third book. We'll see where that leads. I'll keep you posted.
