Peaceful & Purposeful LIFE
God has many names based on His character. He is and will forever be YHWH (Yahweh, LORD) and Elohim (Mighty Creator). For He is the Creator and Lord over everything, and yet He is also our personal and relational LORD. As awesome and majestic as He is, as well as omniscient and omnipotent, He is beyond worthy of all our praise. And I am grateful that the God and King of the universe is so far above me in His wisdom and His ways (Isaiah 55:8,9). But what I find even more amazing, is that this Creator and Lord of everyone and everything also desires to be YHWH, LORD, personal and relational to His children.
Another and probably my favorite name of God’s is Abba, which means Father. Romans 8:15b-16 says, “You received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” When we accepted the sacrifice Jesus, the Son of God, endured for our sins that we may be redeemed and united with God forever, He not only sent His Spirit into our hearts to be with us always, but it is also by the Spirit that we can call out to our Father God, Abba, for we are His children.
His children. This can be a beautiful concept and yet difficult one to fully grasp. Some of us grew up in loving homes and some have not been so fortunate. And no matter what your childhood experience with your parents was, it was still imperfect and flawed in comparison to the relationship we have with our Father. It is probably because we did not have perfect parents that we find it hard to fully understand who God, our Father, is.
Not that I blame my parents for being imperfect. Not at all. I have learned through being a parent myself that even with the best of intentions and a loving heart for my children, I still regularly mess up. Which is why I pray quite often that God will use my flaws to grow my children despite my imperfect parenting.
But your Father is the perfect parent. Think about that. He is all love. Everything He does and allows to happen in your life is all out of that immeasurable love for you. He knows everything about you, after all He did create you, so He knows exactly what you need to be the best you. And the best you is a peaceful, purposeful you, who lives in close relationship with your Father and rests securely in his loving arms.
We can always depend on the perfect God to be our perfect Father. Even though we are by far the most difficult and obstinate of children. But when we mess up, He will always forgive us and never deny His love (Psalm 103:3; Numbers 14:18; Romans 5:8). And He will get us back on track when we wonder, through guidance and discipline (Psalm 23: 4; Hebrews 12:5,6). He provides for our needs and protection (Psalm 23). He is patient and merciful when we do the same sinful thing we hate over and over again (Psalm 103:10-12; Romans 7:15-20; Hebrews 7:25 1 John 1:9). He stays near us and with us, even when we try to do things on our own and even try running away from Him (Hebrews 13:5b). For nothing is greater than His love (1 John 3:1). And nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38,39).
I can’t help but wonder if God allowed us to be parents so that we can get a glimpse of what He deals with every day with us. When we have children and hold that sweet infant who depends entirely on us in our arms, we have such hope. We hope that we are parents that love and nurture and help develop them to become the best people they can be. In theory, this is a good and noble objective. Then we experience the reality of flawed parents trying to parent flawed children.
We see that we are not very patient as we attempt to calm and quiet a crying baby, wait for our toddlers to do what we say (as we count to 3…or even up to 10), or request for the hundredth time that our older children/teenagers clean their rooms or pick up their belongings around the house.
We want to believe that we have instilled values, morals, manners, and knowledge so that they will make wise choices and be good people. And then they irritate their sibling or blame their sibling for something to get them in trouble. Or they are deceptive or just flat out lie to get what they want. I have watched as my children have stubbornly refused to do something I have suggested and do it their own more difficult way. Like when I suggest they wear a coat and they refuse because what does mom know, and then stubbornly shiver while denying they are even chilly. I’ve watched my children needlessly suffer and struggle because they are hardheaded and proceeded their way rather than ask for my advice or help. I’ve seen them have to work through apologies and forgiveness as a result of emotionally and selfishly reacting to a situation where they could have been selfless, gracious, humble, and peacekeeping.
The frustration we feel when we see our children make poor choices when we know they know better, act selfishly when we have seen the kindness they have shown before, or display stubborn independence, believing they know more than we, is maddening. Why do they make life harder than it has to be? Don’t they know that their poor choices have unwanted consequences and lead to unnecessary hurt? And why don’t they go to us with their questions and ask our advice? Afterall, do we not have more knowledge and experience? And besides that, we love them and who else would want better for them than their own parents?
We say before we look in the mirror.
Ouch.
The irony is not lost on us. We can see that we behave the exact same way.
Maybe when we were young, we looked up to our parents. And while we made poor decisions partly due to our sinful nature, we still recognized that our parents were the protectors and providers who loved and nurtured and knew all the answers to our incessant why questionings. The older we got, we explored this independence more and more. Then we became teenagers. And, like every teenager ever, we suddenly believed that we had peaked in intellectual growth, thereby knowing everything. The admirable image of our parents morphed into one of equals. Or there were those teenagers who believed that at the ripe age of 14, they had surpassed the knowledge of their parents. As we grew older and became parents ourselves, we may have been reflective and realized maybe our parents knew something. But then they tried to advise us how to parent our own children, and we regressed back to that teenager who believed we knew better than they again.
Nonetheless, I am convinced that we, no matter how old we get, will always be those obstinate teenagers. We get caught up thinking that we know what is best for our lives and attempt to take control. Even though, God has shown time and time again that He is worthy of all our trust and makes better decisions for us than we make for ourselves. We make poor choices and behave selfishly, though the Bible has informed us what is good and evil and the consequences that follow sinful actions. We know that God created all and therefore knows all. Yet when we need to make life choices, we choose to depend on our limited knowledge rather than go to the omniscient and omnipresent Creator. And when we mess up or mess up by doing the same thing over and over again, we go everywhere but God, ashamed of our failures though we know He is the source of unending forgiveness and mercy.
Acknowledging that I am to my Father what my teenagers/young adult children are to me, gives me a healthier perspective. I desire to be a better daughter of His. Which I do by drawing closer to Him and depending on Him more every day. (see Healthy Spiritual Habits) And I desire to be more generous, gracious, patient, and forgiving not only with my children, but also with all of God’s teenagers.
‘How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.’ -1 John 3:1
Peaceful & Purposeful LIFE (Live Intentionally For Eternity)
‘So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’ -2 Corinthians 4:19
‘Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.’ -John 17:3