I came across Matthew 6:32, 33 … "for your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you," and something profound hit me. To truly believe in a Father who wants to supply our every need, we must first believe in a good, loving and kind Heavenly Father. If you struggle with the concept of a loving Heavenly Father because you associate the way your earthly parents treated you to God, then this blog is for you.
We start out in life with a mother and a father that shape and mold our view of what the word "Father" may conjure up. Both parents have an equal role in the given responsibility of providing for a child's well-being, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
What do you instinctively think of when you think of those who were given the incredible gift of mothering or fathering you? Do warm loving thoughts filter in, or do memories of horror assault you?
If going back to your childhood days conjure memories of emotional, physical, sexual and/or spiritual abuse, then you will understandably have great difficulty embracing this title, "Heavenly Father." There is hope. There is a path to truth and freedom I want to share with you from my own personal experience.
I naturally tied my experience with my earthly parents to that of my Father in heaven and I struggled. But look closely …Our Father from heaven, is not the same as our fallible parents found on earth, and this is good news to the abused. This knowledge helps to distinguish the difference between a loving, perfect, good and faithful Heavenly Father from our fallen earthly parent.
Please know … this does not negate your pain, your hurt, your abuse. Your Heavenly Father wept at whatever horror you suffered. When He gave choice to all people, he gave choice to your mother, your father, to either choose the path of love or choose the path of sin. Freedom sometimes comes at a high price to the innocent. The choice your parents chose, if it was to do evil instead of good, did not mean God turned a blind eye to your abuse. Psalm 56: 8 clearly says that your Heavenly Father has put every one of your tears in a bottle, and they are recorded in His book. Your earthly parents may not have cared, but your Heavenly Father certainly did.
I want to encourage the incredible gift of healing and forgiveness that is possible through embracing a true, righteous, loving and good Father, especially if you were not shown these attributes through your earthly mother or father. Your Heavenly Father is completely different. He can be trusted with your fragile wounded heart and as Isaiah 61:1 says, … He (Jesus) was sent to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to open the prison to those who are bound. I know this to be true … because I was one of them.
Call out to your Heavenly Father … He will come. He will heal. He will even give the power to love your abuser. You will transcend the ordinary and do the extraordinary. He will use your suffering, as He has mine, to lift up the wounded and bring a message of hope.
Listen to this beautiful song by Chris Tomlin to encourage your soul, called Good, Good, Father.