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As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:13-14
After one of my speaking engagements a man came up to me to talk. He was, perhaps in his mid sixties. He told me that he had been a Christ-follower for as long as he could remember but he had always struggled with his salvation.
As we talked more he told me that during my session he’d realized that his issue wasn’t really so much about his salvation as it was the concept of a loving forgiving God as ‘Father God.’ When he was growing up his father was non-existent for the most part and when he was around he was angry, demanding, unforgiving and, at times, abusive physically. He came to the realization that God wasn’t like any earthly father he’d ever known. God did love him. God was forgiving. God wasn’t harsh or abusive.
I left the conversation wondering how many of the rest of us struggle with what it means to have God as our Father. Personally, I’m fortunate to have an earthly father who loves God and his children. He wasn’t perfect, but we kids knew he loved us. I have no problem seeing, in my father, what a compassionate, forgiving and loving God we have.
Many of us don’t have that luxury. Earthly fathers fail us. Some are abusive emotionally, physically or even sexually. Some are so caught up in making a living and providing physically for us that they fail at their most important job: building relationships. Some are absent completely, having checked out emotionally or physically from our lives. The demise of the family also hinders our view of father hood. More than half of our children are being influenced by two or more male figures that could be called ‘dad’, such as step-dads and foster dads.
Then God comes along to say he is a compassionate father? Two terms put together that describes someone we can’t relate to. We see compassion as passion and we see fathers as someone to be feared and avoided!
If you are struggling with your view of God as Father then it’s time to rethink what a ‘father’ is supposed to be.. Your Heavenly Father, Lord of all creation, doesn’t love you as earthly fathers may. He knows you are frail. He knows you will struggle and fail miserably at times. He won’t demand that you do things that will harm you or harm others.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be struggles in your life for a compassionate father knows that struggle is required to gain strength. When you are learning to ride a bike he’ll allow you to fall, but he’s there to clean up the scraped knees and help you get back on again.
Don’t allow the failures of earthly fathers to hinder your view of a loving God who will stand by you in the good times and the bad. You may not always understand your Heavenly Father, but he always understands you. Rules aren’t the important thing to him, relationship is! He gave us a picture of himself in the person of Jesus Christ.
PRAYER: Father God. I confess to you that the idea of you being a father isn’t particularly comforting to me. My father here on earth didn’t leave me with a very good feeling about fathers. I ask that you would show me what a truly compassionate father is. Help me to learn to trust you and grow in relationship with you as I learn to walk with Jesus. In your name I pray, Amen.
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. Romans 3:23-24 (NLT)
During a very difficult time in my life I was unemployed and unable to get work in the area of my training. It was a very difficult time for me. Few jobs were available in the first place. Secondly, there were some jobs that I’d have liked to have, but I didn’t have the training. Other jobs required experience that I didn’t have. In an act of desperation I even tried to get a job at McDonalds and was told I was too overqualified.
Needless to say it was a very tough time for me financially, but it was even more damaging emotionally. I ‘realized’ at that time that I wasn’t able to meet anyone’s standards. I felt defeated, worthless, and hopeless.
When we don’t feel like we measure up it affects our entire outlook on life. We can give up on relationships; bury our frustrations in food, drugs or other addictive behaviors and activities. That kind of behavior leads to a negative spiral. We do something stupid and feel guilty about it. We look for relief for our actions which usually leads to more activity of the same, which of course makes us feel guilty so we find some way to comfort our feelings of failure by…yep, engaging in some inappropriate activity of feelings.
Rehab centers and counseling offices are full of people who have, at some time in their lives, felt they didn’t measure up. ‘New religions’ and changes in church policies are put in place to try to make you feel better about your lifestyle. Nothing is working though. We continue to struggle with ourselves.
Part of the problem is we try to meet up to people’s standards. But that’s a losing battle because some people are impossible to please. Others standards are much lower than your own or fickle. What we need is to find a standard which will show love and acceptance. A standard that will make us feel fulfilled no matter what life throws at us. A standard that will lead us to eternal life.
Sound impossible? You are right, it is. That level of standard only comes from God. His standards are perfect. His standards are loving, kind and full of mercy and understanding. So to feel good about yourself and what you do the trick is to live up to the standards of a Holy, Perfect God.
Sound impossible? It is. We are all human. Whether you are gay or straight, pro-choice or pro-life, regardless of your political persuasion or religious affiliation, you have fallen short of the standards God requires for a good life here and eternal life with him.
So what’s the solution to not meeting up to the standards God demands? Jesus. There is nothing you can do in and of yourselves to meet up to Godly standards. Only through the free gift of Jesus Christ can you find the success to live the life God and you desire. It’s not your power. It’s not your striving. It’s accepting the fact you can’t and living according to the grace given through Jesus.
Stop depending on your own actions to succeed. Stop striving to kick the old habits. Let God take that away. Through Jesus you can meet his standards.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank and praise you for your gift of salvation through Jesus. I’m tired of doing the same stupid things over and over again. Forgive me for the things I’ve done to hurt myself and others. Empower me with your Spirit to live free because of Jesus. In your name, Amen.
But if you don’t want to serve the Lord, you must choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. You may serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, or you may serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land. As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
“I can’t wait until I’m old enough to do what I want!” I love hearing kids say this. On occasion (and depending on who says this) I’ll respond by saying something like, “Me neither! I’m xx years old and still can’t do what I want!
Reality is, we rarely get to make choices about things we feel important. For example we were born to parents not of our choosing, into a family that wasn’t our choice. Our hair color, DNA, eye color and country of origin are beyond our control! We didn’t choose our date of birth nor do we choose our date of death. Fact of the matter is, very few of life’s most important decisions are within the real of our control.
There is, however, one choice we can make that is of eternal consequence. We can choose to believe in the God of Genesis or not. Joshua states it very plainly as he gives final instructions to the Israelites. ‘You must choose for yourselves today whom you will serve’. Notice there is no choice as to whether we will serve someone. The question isn’t IF we will serve a god, the question is which god we will serve.
People try of course. We choose careers. We choose relationships. We choose religion. Some even choose non-religion to fill the void in their lives. Non-religion, of course, is a religion in and of itself. I may ruffle a few feathers here on both sides of the fence but I personally don’t believe there are any atheists or agnostics. Those people who call themselves Atheists or agnostics are in reality people who have been disappointed or abused by so-called christians or empty religions.
Who will you follow? The God of Genesis leaves the choice entirely up to you. You can choose Him by accepting the forgiveness of sins offered through the death and resurrection of Christ or you can choose some other god that will never satisfy the longing in your soul. The choice is yours simply because the God of Genesis loves you so much he won’t force anything on you, even if it is for your good!
PRAYER: God, I have to admit I’ve been pretty disappointed with religion and people who call themselves Christians. I’ve been verbally, physically and emotionally abused by their attacks on me. I’m empty. I’m frustrated. I’m scared. If you are real, please help me believe in you. I ask you to forgive me for my doubt. I hereby confess that you are my God. I will, with your help, follow you as the true God. In Jesus name, Amen.
“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27
The prophet Jeremiah was confused. The walls of Jerusalem were surrounded by an enemy much larger and more powerful than the army of the people of God. Defeat was imminent. There was no hope. Yet in the midst of this struggle Jeremiah is told to go buy a particular piece of land. He questions God about this, “Why buy land if we’re going to be killed or, at best, led into captivity?”
To paraphrase, God tells the prophet: “I’m God. I’m God of everything. I’m God of the enemy, I’m God of you. I’m God of those who doubt my existence; I’m God of those who refuse to obey me. I’m in control of every living thing and all of nature. I’m in control of any aspect of life. Of those who acknowledge me and those who don’t.
Times really haven’t changed much since the days of Jeremiah. People still doubt God’s existence. People still question why he acts the way he does. People still determine for themselves how God will respond to their situation. It’s especially hard at times to trust a God who, from our perspective, allows natural disasters to wipe out towns and entire families. It’s easy to question God when divorce devastates ‘good families’ and leaves children emotionally scarred in its wake or when trusted public figures deceive us.
Our Heavenly Father is passionately in love with us. He could make us comfortable, but he chooses to make us strong. As a loving parent he realizes that the best way to make us strong is to bring things into our lives that may hurt or make us struggle, but will, in the end make us able to withstand greater adversity.
Regardless of what you are going through, remember that ultimately God is in control. It may seem the enemy is closing in. It may seem, from our perspective that we are in a hopeless situation. If so, we are right where God wants us, for when we come to the point where we realize we can’t, God shows us he can!
If you water a young tree every day its roots will never grow deep. The tree that endures the drought and the storm and the dead cold of winter is the tree that has placed roots deep in the soil for nurture, strength and endurance.
The Christ-follower who endures the attacks of the enemy and learns to withstand the unfair assault of our evil generation will be able to stand because their roots of faith have grown deep in the knowledge that no matter what happens, their God is in control.
PRAYER: Father God. I thank you for the fact that you are God of all things. Sometimes I feel surrounded by people and circumstances that make me question your actions or your strength. Forgive me for those times of doubt. Empower me to trust you even when I don’t understand you. Help me to be comfortable even in the hard times. In your name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 