When I was little, my dad and I used to ride our bikes together quite a bit. Sometimes it was on a trail, and sometimes it was on our street and around our community. He always made sure I had my helmet; even when I got older, he would discipline me for not putting it on. And whenever we were riding on streets, he always rode on the outside of me. I was always close to the curb, and he was out a few feet from me. These are things he did to protect me. He never wanted any harm to come upon me, and, in cases that I made a situation unsafe, he disciplined me. Not because he was trying to control me, but because he cared about me and wanted no harm to come upon me.
From as long as I can remember, I have always had a good relationship with my dad. I could probably easily consider him my best friend. During the evenings at home, him and I would often walk our dog, Tucker, and just talk.
The foundation for our relationship was set when I was really young — like beyond what I can remember. Him and my mom always told me he would come home from work and immediately run upstairs to rock me in his arms. He would just admire his infant child for a good while. Then, as I grew up a little bit, he would make time to do things with me. We bonded over Pixar Films quite a bit; I still remember going to see Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo with him. He started taking me to Baltimore Orioles’ games quite often as well. Him and I hanging out became a regular thing to do, and it was great.
I cannot really remember much of Middle School and the first two years of High School. I do not think I spent as much time with my dad in those years. Perhaps I thought it “wasn’t cool enough.” Perhaps I was trying to distance myself and adapt to what everyone else was doing that was my age. But Junior Year was when things started going back to the way they were. Things really started to change after his medical issues. So we began to bond again, we began to hang out more, pour into each other more. And that just went on and on, our bond becoming stronger and stronger.
It seemed uncorrelated that my relationship with God began to get stronger and stronger in Junior Year. I began to notice the things that God was doing in my life that I had not noticed before. God was truly present, and He was present in ways I could never have imagined. I have recently realized how correlated my relationship with my dad is with my relationship with God.
God is a Father. God is our Father. We are to regard Him as such, just as He regards us as His children.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And we cry “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)
God provided us a Spirit that allows our lives to be led by Him. He regards us so highly as His children, and He is good to us. He is a provider. He is a protector. He is steadfast in His love for us and slow to anger. He is patient and kind. God is so many things, and He loves us so much as His children.
We, as humans, sin. It hurts God to see us act out in these ways. We pray for repentance and our sins are forgiven. But sometimes God does things to teach us lessons, to show us why that act of sin was wrong.
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined – and everyone undergoes discipline – then you are not legitimate, not true sons or daughters at all. (Hebrews 12:7, 8)
God wants us to see the wrong in our actions, and wants to make it clear that those things stray from Him. He encourages us in this way, as He hopes it builds us up. We, as His children, are responsible to make adjustments to our lives that please God.
A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes. (Proverbs 13:1)
After so long of not responding to God, not correcting things, completely ignoring Him, I began to open up and listen again. I began to allow God to pour into me, like He wanted to. And I was able to really find this around the same time that I really began bonding and hanging out with my dad again.
God provided me with a gift, that of which is my relationship with my dad. He gave me something really great, something I truly cherish. And through that, He was saying, “Your relationship with me can and should be similar! I am your Father and you are my son!” He was showing me that He loves me as His son as well, that He wants me to pour into Him just as I pour into my earthly father. God wants His children to come to Him. He gave me an amazing relationship with my own dad as an example for what my relationship with Him could be like.
God and I are very close now, as I have had all these months to allow Him to pour into me and vice versa. I have such a better understanding of who God is. On top of that, my dad and I are very close as well, and gets stronger each day. I so strongly believe my relationship with God and my relationship with my dad are incredibly correlated. And that is why… (to be continued)
