For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in... Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
~Psalm 27:10 & 68:5
Father's Day just passed: a holiday that gives some people reason to celebrate while for others serves as a catalyst to open up or scratch at deep and painful wounds.
How we view our earthly fathers affects (either consciously or subconsciously) how we approach our Heavenly Father. Our "daddy" issues can cause us to have "Abba" issues.
Is anyone else singing John Mayer's "Fathers Be Good To Your Daughters" right now? no? just me? okay... moving on...
My Father's choices and actions had an effect on my approach to human relationship, so you'd think that when I first heard about God the Father I would have cringed, but that (luckily) was not the case.
I never seemed to use my earthly father to determine who God is, rather I used God to understand what a father should be. I was (and still am) comforted by God in the role of father, despite the failures of the man whose name I hold.
*Now, to be fair to my father, he is a human being just like the rest of us. I love him and forgive him for the past and do not intend this post to be a slam on him.
Fathers deeply impact our self-image. Whether we like it or not what we think our fathers think of us is directly correlated to what we think of ourselves. For example, to a large extent when I was younger (and, to be honest, to a much smaller extent now) I felt like I was not good enough or captivating enough to make any man want to stay in my life. I have always said that the idea of me is much more appealing than the actual me.
Now, intellectually I knew this to be false (simple logic proved this otherwise), but my heart just could not agree with my mind. Plus, it seemed that all of my relationships with men proved my heart right.
Then I realized that, not only was my history with my father affecting my human relationships, but it was affecting my relationship with God as well. I caught myself thinking that my problems weren't big enough to bring to my Father and that I wasn't deserving of His love. THIS BROKE MY HEART.
And then it lifted a weight off of it.
For so long I felt troubled, my heart and my mind were at war with each other. I NEVER doubted that God was and is and always will be who the Bible claims. I just knew it to be true and reasonable. I didn't reject God as my Father because my father did not live up to God's standards, so my "daddy" issues didn't affect my relationship with God. right?
Wrong. Just like all of those deep-seeded super gnarly issues that tear at your soul, my problems with my dad had strategically located themselves in a locked away place within my being and caused me to hesitate with my Father, despite my knowledge of His unconditional love for me.
My "daddy" issues had caused some serious "Abba" issues.
DON'T WORRY! This story has a happy ending: I'm cured! I no longer have any issues, all of my relationships are perfect and healthy, and I only sing happy songs...
I said a happy ending, not a fantastical ending.
The real ending is this: In recognizing my issues I have been able to seek God and allow Him to approach me with solutions. I still have insecurities and I still have breakdown moments that involve large amounts of wine and chocolate. But I recognize them for what they are and this ultimately gives me power over my issues instead of my issues having power over me.
And the moral of the story is: daughters and sons, love your heavenly Father and let Him love you, despite or in light of your earthly father. God is the One and Only God. There is no one like Him, just like there is no one else like ChrisAnn Johnson (well, actually, to a much larger degree, but you get the point). He is worth FAR more than being compared to a man.
We don't like being unjustly compared to others, so why would we think it good to do it to the Almighty God?
Is anyone else singing John Mayer's "Fathers Be Good To Your Daughters" right now? no? just me? okay... moving on...
My Father's choices and actions had an effect on my approach to human relationship, so you'd think that when I first heard about God the Father I would have cringed, but that (luckily) was not the case.
I never seemed to use my earthly father to determine who God is, rather I used God to understand what a father should be. I was (and still am) comforted by God in the role of father, despite the failures of the man whose name I hold.
*Now, to be fair to my father, he is a human being just like the rest of us. I love him and forgive him for the past and do not intend this post to be a slam on him.
Fathers deeply impact our self-image. Whether we like it or not what we think our fathers think of us is directly correlated to what we think of ourselves. For example, to a large extent when I was younger (and, to be honest, to a much smaller extent now) I felt like I was not good enough or captivating enough to make any man want to stay in my life. I have always said that the idea of me is much more appealing than the actual me.
Now, intellectually I knew this to be false (simple logic proved this otherwise), but my heart just could not agree with my mind. Plus, it seemed that all of my relationships with men proved my heart right.
Then I realized that, not only was my history with my father affecting my human relationships, but it was affecting my relationship with God as well. I caught myself thinking that my problems weren't big enough to bring to my Father and that I wasn't deserving of His love. THIS BROKE MY HEART.
And then it lifted a weight off of it.
For so long I felt troubled, my heart and my mind were at war with each other. I NEVER doubted that God was and is and always will be who the Bible claims. I just knew it to be true and reasonable. I didn't reject God as my Father because my father did not live up to God's standards, so my "daddy" issues didn't affect my relationship with God. right?
Wrong. Just like all of those deep-seeded super gnarly issues that tear at your soul, my problems with my dad had strategically located themselves in a locked away place within my being and caused me to hesitate with my Father, despite my knowledge of His unconditional love for me.
My "daddy" issues had caused some serious "Abba" issues.
DON'T WORRY! This story has a happy ending: I'm cured! I no longer have any issues, all of my relationships are perfect and healthy, and I only sing happy songs...
I said a happy ending, not a fantastical ending.
The real ending is this: In recognizing my issues I have been able to seek God and allow Him to approach me with solutions. I still have insecurities and I still have breakdown moments that involve large amounts of wine and chocolate. But I recognize them for what they are and this ultimately gives me power over my issues instead of my issues having power over me.
And the moral of the story is: daughters and sons, love your heavenly Father and let Him love you, despite or in light of your earthly father. God is the One and Only God. There is no one like Him, just like there is no one else like ChrisAnn Johnson (well, actually, to a much larger degree, but you get the point). He is worth FAR more than being compared to a man.
We don't like being unjustly compared to others, so why would we think it good to do it to the Almighty God?
