By special request, I’m addressing the topic of God as Father today. Last fall, my small group (shout out to the ladies of YWC!) studied the names of God, and I got to lead the week when we discussed “Abba.” God has been speaking to a wise friend of mine about his loving father heart lately, and she suggested that I publish my two cents.
Some of my very favorite verses in the Bible talk about how God has adopted us as his children. Galatians 4:4-7 says:
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
It always blows my mind to think of God adopting me as his daughter. Just being a servant of the Most High, the God of the universe, is crazy enough. I’m not just a servant to him, though – he’s given me the rights and inheritance of a son, just like Jesus, and everything that’s his is mine (Luke 15:31). He calls me his daughter, and I get to call him Abba.
“Abba” is an Aramaic word that you’ll most often hear translated as “Daddy,” but I think it’s important to note that it’s not a childish word. It was a term of endearment that was used by Jewish children even after they had become adults. It’s a word that invites intimacy but doesn’t excuse immaturity. We get to draw close to God as his children, but he also expects us to grow and mature (Hebrews 6:1).
“Abba” is also a word that associates God with the man that most of us grew up calling “Daddy.” For better or for worse (I’d say most often it’s for better AND for worse), our earthly fathers hugely impact the way we perceive our Heavenly Father.
One of my favorite parts of that night at small group was asking everyone how their fathers modeled God’s love for them. It was awesome to hear everyone’s stories and take a moment to honor and appreciate our dads.
My own dad is someone that I admire, and he’s shown me what God’s love looks like in a lot of ways. His patience and gentleness are among the first things that come to mind. I also remember his presence being a source of safety and security when I was little – there was nothing to be afraid of if Dad was there. He’s not someone who talks much, but I know he enjoys me for who I am, which is something that I treasure.
Even the best father-daughter relationships create some skewed perceptions of God, though. Seeing as dads are people, they’re bound to fail sometimes, and those failures influence how we see Father God. We don’t make conscious decisions to believe wrongly about God, those wrong beliefs develop unconsciously. They hide in the background of our lives, creating mindsets that motivate our thoughts and actions without us even realizing.
God has been bringing those mindsets to light in my own life lately. For instance, I mentioned that my dad doesn’t talk much. I internalized this into the mindset that God didn’t have much to say to me. I knew he had revealed himself in written form in the Bible, but I didn’t really expect to hear from him in any direct or specific way. My prayer time wasn’t so much about conversation with God – since I didn’t expect him to speak, I wouldn’t be quiet and listen long enough for him to get a word in edgewise.
Last fall at small group, I asked everyone to pray that God would help us to see him as he is, not wrongly colored by how we see our dads. Just as importantly, we prayed that he would help us see ourselves as he sees us, not how our dads (or anyone else, for that matter) make us feel.
Learning how God sees you, that is, finding your identity in him, is such a powerful thing. It’s something he’s been teaching me a lot about (more on that in future posts) – deconstructing my wrong beliefs and rebuilding me in the truth. The bottom line is that my Father LOVES me, which is so simple but so huge. He always accepts me, always has time for me, always provides for me, always keeps me safe and secure, and will never leave me or forsake me. He loves me just for being me. And he loves you too!
