Coming Home To The Father

Coming Home to the Father

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! 1 John 3:1

Maybe you are one of those fortunate women whose mothers and fathers reflected the Lord’s love for them. Parents have many jobs and responsibilities, but one of the most vital is to be the picture or reflection of God that he intends them to be so their children will eventually turn to their heavenly Father and receive his unfailing love.

As humans, our perception of God tends to be shaped by our earthly parents. Terri was the child of missionaries, but because her parents were cold and critical, she perceived God as being the same way. On the other hand, my friend Peggy had a gentle, loving dad, so when she came to Christ as a teenager, it was easy for her to experience God’s love and comfort.

How we view our heavenly Father is directly related to our experiences with our own fathers, because we see God through the filter of our parents’—and especially our fathers’—love or lack of love. This view carries right into adulthood and can greatly influence our relationship with our heavenly Father. Although God’s love is unfailing and unconditional, many of us avoid him because of the “father flaws” we saw as we grew up.

The good news is God can use the very holes in your life that resulted from imperfect fathering or from life’s losses to draw you into his arms and make you the beneficiary of his perfect fathering. He can fill the gaps of the love you needed and didn’t receive. Regardless of how adequate or inadequate your earthly father (or parent) was, you don’t have to remain stuck in the perception of God you’ve carried since childhood. The eyes of your heart can be renewed as you bring those faulty views to the altar, forgive those who misrepresented God, and ask the Lord to enable you to see him accurately and to enjoy him and trust him now and forever. —CHERI

Father, I want to come home to an intimate, trusting, loving relationship with you. Cleanse my father filter. Heal the wounds in my heart from the father flaws I’ve experienced. In every circumstance I go through, may my vision of you and your flawless character grow and grow, and may I be changed in the process.

Jesus invites you and me, in his name, to come into his Father’s presence through prayer, crawl up into his lap by faith, put our heads on his shoulder of strength, feel his loving arms of protection around us, call him “Abba” Daddy, and pour out our hearts to him. —ANNE GRAHAM LOTZ, AUTHOR AND EVANGELIST