When I was a little girl, my Girl Scout troop attended a father–daughter square dance.
It was a fun evening of “swing your partner” and “do-si-do” and, after a full night, my dad treated me to a hot fudge brownie sundae at our local Big Boy restaurant.
I remember how special I felt on those square dancing nights with my dad and mmm… that hot fudge was good!
Dads are important aren’t they?
Unfortunately, not all of us have happy memories of our fathers. For some reason or other, our relationships may be soured, tainted, or even nonexistent.
I spoke with a friend once whose experience with her dad was way different than my own.
You see, her dad was an alcoholic who cheated on her mom. And the hurt is still there, even though years have passed and her dad is now gone.
I’ve heard that our relationship with God often duplicates our own relationship with our earthly dads.
Because I was blessed with a good relationship with my dad, it was an easy thing for me to receive the free gift of salvation as a teenager.
But my friend still struggles.
She yearns to know God, but she’s got a brick wall around her heart that she can’t seem to get through. She reads his Word without understanding and gets frustrated at the distance she feels from him.
No doubt, my friend needs some inner healing, and I know God can do that. He yearns to show her the love of a true father, but you know my friend has to be ready and willing, and I don’t think she’s there yet.
Understanding the fatherhood of God can be difficult for some. Do you know that Jesus set a pattern for us to pray to God as “our father?”
And in Romans 8:15-16 it says, “you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
And do you know what the translation of Abba is? It’s an Aramaic word that communicates the deep intimacy that takes place between parents and children.
I’ve heard people say it means “daddy.”
Does our God desire to know us only from a distance?
No way.
There is a deep, intimate relationship our God yearns to have with each one of us. How amazing is it that the creator of the universe longs to have this with you and me!
Whether you’ve had a dad that makes it easy for you to receive the love of our heavenly father or not, God still longs to hold you in his arms and hear you call him “daddy.”
My husband is outside with our little girl as I write this. Patiently, he’s following her around as they experience a few minutes of father–daughter time.
As I peek through the window at the pair, I notice that she’s leading him to my perennial garden and pointing out the pretty blooms.
Knowing that he’s not much of a “flower guy,” I find myself smiling and thinking about his patience with her. He’s building a relationship that will hopefully someday make it an easy transition for her to know her heavenly “daddy.”
Who’s your daddy?
This Father’s Day, let’s do some soul searching. It might hurt a little—and take some healing, but isn’t it worth it so you can live confidently as a child of God?
Debra Torres is a Christian copywriter spreading the light of Jesus through her Who is God blog, where she attempts to answer one of mankind’s biggest questions: “Who is God?” Using heartfelt Christian devotions, Debra takes her readers on a journey of discovery helping them experience the nature of God for themselves.