Today we celebrate dads. If your dad is or was a good father, good for you. If he wasn’t or is not a good father, or if you never knew him no matter the reason, I am so sorry for you and I wish you find healing and restoration in God, the Good Father. He can take care for you like no other father could never do.
This morning I was looking at the scriptures where we see God as our father.
“And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty”. 2 Cor. 6: 18.
God is our father. Jesus refers to him as our father several times in the sermon on the mount:
“… so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in the secret will reward you”. Matthew 6:4
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you”. Matthew 6: 6
And in the Lord’s prayer, Jesus tells us to call God our father.
“Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven …” Matthew 6: 8 – 9
Now, let’s look at what the scriptures say God does as a father. How does he play that role ?
- He carries us.
There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place. Deuteronomy 1:31.
Parents carry their children when they are little. It’s part of the care and support young children have from their parents. Likewise, God takes care of us in so many ways. If you are God’s child, if you received Jesus as your savior and Lord and if you have a personal relationship with him, you certainly have experienced our God’s goodness in your life. Think of your first years as a Christian and remember how God carried you when you couldn’t yet stand on your feet, when you didn’t know how to read the bible or didn’t know to hear his voice. He carried you in those day, and taught you what you needed to learn step by step, all the way to where you currently are. And he continues to take care of you every day as you need, whether you are new in that journey or you have already come a long way. God takes care of us in our every day life as well. What do we have that we didn’t receive from him ? And what can we do without him ?
- He has compassion for us
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. Ps. 103:13.
This verse gives to fathers a norm. For God, a father has compassion on his children.
Compassion means “sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others”.
The Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology defines “Compassion” as “That (human) disposition that fuels acts of kindness and mercy. Compassion, a form of love, is aroused within us when we are confronted with those who suffer or are vulnerable”.
The Hebrew and Greek words translated “compassion” in the Bible mean “to have mercy, to feel sympathy and to have pity.”
We could have a whole study about compassion, but let’s look only at an example of compassion from a father in the bible. We all know the parable of the prodigal son. He asked for his part of his father’s fortune, then left to be on his own. But he “squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need” Luke 15: 13 – 14.
Then he decided to go back home and ask for forgiveness from his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him”. Luke 15:20
The attitude of this father is compassion. Though his son had messed up, he showed him love. What the son had done didn’t change his father’s attitude towards him. Those who have difficult children know that it’s not easy, but it’s possible only by God’s grace.
This is God’s heart and this is the heart he wants from us. Are you able to show compassion to your son or daughter when they have messed up ? Or you belittle them and tell them harsh words that make them feel unloved ? I love that the bible gives an example of an adult child or not-that young-anymore child (otherwise, his father would not have let him go).
This is also the love we should extend to everyone in our lives and that’s how God loves us. He shows us grace and we should extend that grace to our neighbor.
- He disciplines us
“I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him…” 2 Samuel 7: 14
“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline ?” Hebrew 12: 7
Who loves well chastises as well. Nobody loves hardship, but it’s part of life, either as a consequence of our behavior, or without any of our responsibility in it. Either way, the bible says that it’s God’s way to discipline us. But the good news is, his steadfast love will never depart from us.
Earlier in this post, we saw that we are to show compassion and grace to our children when they mess up and that we should show the same grace and compassion to our neighbor. However, that doesn’t exclude consequences and responsibility and this is where discipline comes in. It’s about boundaries and God himself, in his love teaches us boundaries as he disciplines us. Boundaries are part of a healthy relationship. As parents, we should also discipline our children and teach them boundaries.
So, our Father takes care of us, he has compassion for us and he disciplines us. This is the father’s picture that the scriptures in this post give us of our Father God, the Good Father. As parents, let’s pray that God help us be good dads and moms.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for being such a good father for me. I pray that you help me be the mom/the dad you want me to be for each one of my children. Give me the wisdom to know how to love them well every day. Help me know how to take care of them, how to show them compassion, and how to discipline them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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