How Have We Learned The Father?
Every single one of us, whether you adhere to Christianity or not, has a particular view of God. This view has been shaped, even among strong believers, by our life story. Things like our upbringing, circumstances, and our default behavior all play into who we, operationally, believe God to be for us.
I use the word “operationally” because we all have creeds that we go along with that help us clarify what we are supposed to think about God. However, in our day to day lives, due to our attitude on a particular day or because of circumstances, those things we recited on Sunday morning just don't seem to fit right in some moments. Therefore, by how we live and what we tell ourselves, we reveal who we truly believe God to be. I love what A.W. Tozer once said:
Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is.
For many of us, God is distant or at the least disinterested in our lives. The daily grind of life, the circumstances that don't go our way, or the myriad of other things throughout our short lives, all seem to shout “God is not for you.” It wears down the heart. Many of us have just settled for less than what God intends.
This dilemma is not new. It is as old as the Garden. When the serpent comes to Eve in Eden, his whisper is the same. “You cannot trust God to care for you.” Just like Eve, we buy into the lie almost daily. Over time we come to doubt God’s intentions towards us. Sure, we read in the Word all about how God loves us and has life for us to the fullest, but somehow it doesn't sink deep, it stays surface. Against the onslaught of the world, the flesh, and the devil, it gets lost somewhere.
Thankfully we serve a warrior God who will not stand idly by and watch His lovers be taken as hostages. He will do whatever is necessary to show us that His heart for us is good!
Could it be that over the course of our lives we have learned the Father wrong? We have let in whispers that are draining us of the life that God desperately wants for us. So, much like Gandalf marches in to free King Theoden in The Lord of the Rings, our Jesus marches in to break the spell and whispers to us, “Breathe the free air again my friend.”
I would encourage you to open your eyes and see how Jesus is doing that particularly for you.
The theologian and poet George McDonald once said,
It is better to have never learned the Father, then to have learned Him wrong.
Sit with this in the coming week. How have you learned the Father?
Ask God to Father you. His heart is good.
