Happy Father's Day, Dad

The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass;
like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone—as though we had never been here.  But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. (Psalm 103:13-17 NLT)

My earthly father always believed in me and he showed it by his actions toward me. When I wanted to learn how to ride a bike, he encouraged me to go for it by getting out the training wheels and putting them on my sister's huge Schwinn two-wheeler. I say huge because anything bigger than 5 inch wheels on a tricycle was "HUGE" to me in those days! When I wanted to earn a little money like my older siblings were doing, he helped me pick the fruit from the citrus trees in our yard, pile it high into the wheelbarrow, and then make believe he wasn't watching me like a hawk from two doors down as I stood on the street corner with my sign that it was a penny a piece! When I wanted to finish nursing school after a break up in my marriage, he gave up every other weekend to stay at home to watch the grand kids so I could work a job getting some skills I needed to "learn the trade". He knew when I needed to learn lessons the hard way, or when a hand of rescue was needed. He never took his eye off me when I was certain I was doing everything "all on my own". Indeed, he showed his love and his "backing" in my life in so many ways, probably making it easier for me to see just how much God my heavenly Father does much the same thing every day of my life.

There are times we need to know we have the "backing" of our heavenly Father - feeling his presence so closely to us that we just know we will be caught if we were to stumble even the slightest. There are other times God isn't quite as "palpable" in the moment, but we must never lose sight of the fact he still is watching over us and his strong arm is ready to deliver us at the first indication we are in need of his intervention. Sometimes God knows we have the ability to do what needs to be done - because he has seen us do it time and time again. He still stands "watch" over our actions, my friend. At other times, God knows we will want to "chicken out", overcome with fear and doubt because of the daunting size of the task ahead of us, and he has already made provision for the encouragement and little nudges we will need to put one foot in front of the other as we go into and through whatever it is we face.

It hasn't escaped God's attention or notice that our "make up" is that of dust - from dust we were formed and to dust we shall return! Dust doesn't have must "structure" unless there is a skilled hand fashioning it into something unique and "put together". Dad gave me many "skills" as I was growing up, sharing with me the things he had learned as he made his way through life. Why should I feel like God wouldn't share his "skills" with me as life's opportunities present themselves that are bigger than my present "skill set"? God the Father isn't going to abandon us with the issue at hand - he may allow us to struggle with it a little to show us where it is we need a little help - but he doesn't abandon us to solve life's issues all on our own. I think some of us don't understand this as well as we should, maybe because we didn't have a good and trusting relationship with our earthly fathers. It is possible for us to learn to trust God, though. He isn't one to shirk "responsibility", nor is he one to "abandon" us. We won't know this until we actually put a little skin into the game and begin to trust him, though. We don't allow him to show us how near to us he is and just how much care he takes to ensure our safety and provision in this lifetime. Trust isn't inherited. It is learned. It isn't in the words so much as it is in the actions. God certainly has revealed he can be trusted - we just need to observe his actions in our lives to know this. 

I cannot wish my earthly father a Happy Father's Day today because he went on to heaven many years ago. I can show him how much his influence in my life made a difference though. If you didn't have that positive influence in your earthly father, you do in your heavenly Father. We can all reveal how much HIS influence makes in our lives. Just sayin!

Dad...

Did you ever stop to consider the way various people address God?  I have been around some pretty "staunchly" religious people who continually refer to him as "heavenly father" or "God Almighty".  Yes, he is both, but these terms actually describe a kind of formal and rigid relationship with God.  If I had gone around responding to my dad with "Yes, father" all the time, it would have been like I was saying, "Sir, yes, sir!"  I would have been treating him merely as an authority figure in my life much in the same way I treated my commanding officer in the military!  Indeed, God is the authority over my life, but I don't want to approach him as the "big authority in the sky" kind of God.  I think God intends for us to have a more intimate, or close relationship with him.  He doesn't want us to treat him like our "bestie", but I do think he wants us to be comfortable calling him "Abba" (daddy). 

So, my brothers and sisters, you owe the flesh nothing! You do not need to live according to its ways, so abandon its oppressive regime. For if your life is just about satisfying the impulses of your sinful nature, then prepare to die. But if you have invited the Spirit to destroy these selfish desires, you will experience life. If the Spirit of God is leading you, then take comfort in knowing you are His children. You see, you have not received a spirit that returns you to slavery, so you have nothing to fear. The Spirit you have received adopts you and welcomes you into God’s own family. That’s why we call out to Him, “Abba! Father!” as we would address a loving daddy. Through that prayer, God’s Spirit confirms in our spirits that we are His children. If we are God’s children, that means we are His heirs along with the Anointed, set to inherit everything that is His. If we share His sufferings, we know that we will ultimately share in His glory. (Romans 8:13-17 VOICE)

My dad had authority over my life while I was growing up, and as I grew older, making a way in the world for myself, he was still in that place of authority in my life.  Why?  It wasn't something demanded, but something I fully gave him because I trusted him.  I knew he wouldn't ever deliberately bring harm into my life and I totally trusted him to always show me how much carefulness he took in protecting me.  Right up to the day my dad died, he was protecting me one way or another.  In his prayers for me, he put a shield of protection over my life.  In going with me to the car dealership when I needed to buy a new car, he protected my finances and helped me make a safe, wise car purchase.  In showing me how to use a few hand tools, he prepared me to keep things in good working order in my life.  He was always looking out for me - something I know he learned from Jesus!

When we invite Jesus into our lives, we are inviting him to take over the care of our lives - to be in a position of authority.  When we walk with him each day, learning how he moves and operates in our lives to provide that protection "over" us, we move from just submitting to him as an authority to enjoying his presence in our lives.  The Spirit of God comes into our lives, securing us from the "authority" of sin, and begins the work of helping us to know we are no longer bound to the past way of living, but enter into a new place of liberty and peace. In turn, we come to understand God's watchfulness and protection "over" our lives - much like an earthly dad acts toward the children he loves.  There is a tendency to press in a little closer and to trust him with the stuff which makes life complicated because we know he only has our best in mind.

Did you ever stop to consider that through the simple prayer of calling out, "Abba!  Father!", we were not only addressing God as one of his children, but in those simple words, we are confirming deep inside our inner man that we trust him as a child trusts their father?  In life, we look for strategies that will give us some advantage, don't we?  Trusting God so much that we move beyond treating him as "master" or "Sir God" in our lives is one way for us to move from simply "being in the family" to enjoying our position as one "under his protection".  It is sometimes easier for us to see all the commandments of God (do this, but don't do that) and treat him as an "authority over our lives" than it is to see his promises, recognizing him as the "protector of all aspects of our lives".  We may not be comfortable calling him "daddy", but we can call him "Abba".  They mean the same thing!  In so doing, it is like we are "cementing" a sense of trust - we are leaning into his arms and counting on the sensing of his presence to guide us through whatever may come our way.

Calling God "Abba" is not magical, but it helps us to connect with the heart of our heavenly father in a way which shows we understand he is always going to be concerned with providing whatever it is which will protect his child.  It signifies we understand the privilege of being his child, so much so that we are learning to trust him to assist us in abandoning the ways of the flesh which gave us so much trouble in the past.  It shows we are willing to tell him where we are struggling and then trust him to help us understand that struggle until we understand how it is we abandon it and take a different course.  God isn't going to "enforce" his role as "daddy" - he waits for us to move from treating him as just "an authority" over our lives to the one whose heart is always turned toward protecting us at every turn.  Just sayin!

Force fed and loving it!

I had the pleasure of enjoying my two daughters and grandsons on Mother's Day, along with my Mom.  The boys had to work, but they sent their greetings and were missed terribly.  As we were enjoying a leisurely BBQ lunch, Corbyn asked if I had seen the hummingbird video on Facebook.  We had been observing the hummingbirds come and go from the feeder just behind us on the patio, so the subject seemed to center around birds.  I had observed many beautiful birds on vacation, but the boys wanted me to see this particular video because it had caught their attention.  Becca was quick to find it in the news feed and shared it with me.  It spoke volumes to me.  As I watched, a mother hummingbird fed two small chick birds in the nest.  First one, then the other. What was amazing was the way she almost had to "force feed" them.  At first, they started out "ravenous" - wanting what she had to offer, beaks open and beckoning to her to give them her stores of food.  As their tummies began to fill, the nestled down deeper into the next and began to almost resist her tender advances to provide them with nourishment.  I mentioned to the kids how much it looked like she was "force feeding" them toward the end.  One gave into this "forced feeding", while the other burrowed deeper into the nest and firmly kept the tiny mouth closed against her probing beak.  I wondered if this isn't how we sometimes treat God - beckoning him to provide nourishment at first, but then pulling away, nestling down into our secure place, and resisting what he has to offer.

The Lord God is our protector and glorious king. He blesses us with kindness and honor. The Lord freely gives every good thing to those who do what is right. Lord All-Powerful, great blessings belong to those who trust in you! (Psalm 84:11-12 ERV)

Just like the mother hummingbird, God beckons us to open up and then to take what he has to offer.  What I didn't tell you was how "deep" into the open mouths of these tiny chicks she had to put her beak to actually impart what it was she had to offer.  It seemed as though she stuck that long, slender beak nearly all the way down their throats, right into their stomachs.  It was as though she probed along the roof of their mouths, then right down into the stomach - imparting the rich nectar she had for them.  When they began to resist a little, she pried their mouths open and continued to give of the nectar, but not before she got it deep enough into them for them to get 100% of what she was offering.

I think God may have to be this way with us when he brings good things into our lives which will actually help us grow.  He has done all the work to provide what we need, but we cannot overlook how much he sometimes has to "pry us open" to get us to receive the goodness he has prepared for us!  Amazingly, we cry out for so much, then when God comes along with it all prepared in the special way only he can provide, we resist it!  In his loving care, he won't let us stay in our place of resistance, though.  He is much like this mother bird, tenderly probing us until we will open up and begin to accept the entrance of what he has into the depths of our lives.

Another thing I noted as I watched this video was the security of the nest.  It was small by comparison to some nests, but quite soft and flexible.  As those tiny chicks burrowed deep into the safety of the nest, it "gave" with them.  The nest seemed to flex and then securely embrace them in the downy feathers and soft security of the walls provided for their safety.  Much to our surprise, we often find our greatest "peace" comes in nestling down in the place God has prepared for us well in advance of us even needing it.  This mother bird spent hour upon hour tenderly crafting that nest.  She made a place of safety long before she even knew she'd mother her two chicks there.

God is much the same - tenderly preparing the place for our protection and security.  It becomes the place of our deepest feedings and the rest we so much need.  Just as those birds began to settle in with full stomachs, the mother bird watched and ensured they were nestled deep into the nest.  After seeing them peaceful and "filled to the max" with the goodness she had provided, what do you suppose she did?  You might imagine she nestled in on top of them for a well deserved rest herself, but she didn't.  In fact, she was off again, preparing for their next meal!  She was already looking out for what they needed next. Isn't this so like our God?  Always looking out for what we will need next in this life.  

We may not be "chicks in a nest", but I think we can all receive a lesson or two from the mother hummingbird and her two chicks.  Just sayin!