I've come to believe that there's no greater earthly blessing than to have the love of a father. Whenever I see a daddy tenderly holding his little child, my heart does a somersault. As one who did not have a relationship like that with her own father, I understand the damage that does to a child. I know the insecurities and fears that ensue, and how it impacts nearly every other relationship in one's life.
Praise be to my heavenly Father that He rescued me from my past, gave me the grace to forgive my dad, and taught me how to trust Him with my life. Yesterday our pastor said something in his message that struck me hard in its pure truth: "God is the father you always wanted." He, indeed, is the father I always wanted! He is the father who is always available. He is the patient father who gently instructs me. He is the father who is ready to listen to my prayers, and answer them wisely and with the best of intentions.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that our Father in heaven wants to give us good things. That doesn't mean we'll always get what we ask for because sometimes what we want is ultimately not good for us. Sometimes God has something better planned. Something that we can't even imagine. Have you seen that in your own life? I know I have. And, really, one of the beautiful things about growing old is that we have more experiences that prove God's answers to prayer are absolutely 100% trustworthy. He's not going to give us anything that is bad for us. No matter how hard it is to see that at first.
It his commentary on today's verse, Charles Spurgeon says, "In temporal things we make blunders, and ask for that as bread which we think to be so, when in truth it is a stone. We mistake a serpent for an eel, and beg for it as for a fish. Our heavenly Father will correct our prayer, and give us, not what we ignorantly seek, but we we really need."
Father, please continue to correct our prayers!
Today's music video God Who Listens by Chris Tomlin, featuring Thomas Rhett reminds us that our all powerful Father know us intimately, and always listens to our prayers.
I love you, I'm thinking of you, and I'm praying for you.
I'm so grateful to have God as the epitome of a Father to me. My own father was an authoritarian dad who abandoned all of us when we were adults. Once our Mom died, within days, he cut off all of his relationships with my brothers, sister and I. He wanted a completely new life with a new woman. (He was 67 years old, not a spring chicken. Such a strange thing to do.)
ReplyDeleteBut our Lord God will be a Father who is always there for us. Thank you for the reminder.
Blessings,
Betsy
Like you, Nancy, that relationship wasn't present when I was growing up either, but I could forgive that because I think my father did what he thought, from his own experience, to be best. My grandfather (his father) was something else. Anyway, I won't say it was easy thinking about God, my heavenly Father, in a different light, but I'm learning. Thinking back, I can see how He has taken care of me and is teaching me even today! And I'm SO thankful, that in spite of it all, my mom and dad took us to church every Sunday and God definitely had a hand in that! All of us in this life are flawed, and yet He really loves us! To me, this is a reason to thank Him every day and be grateful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nancy. This means so much to me this morning. It has given me thoughts to ponder and appreciate God for who He is.
ReplyDeleteThese are good reminders. Thank you.
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