Our Heavenly Father |
by David A. DePra |
| If there is one thing kids take seriously, it's the promises made |
| by their parents. If you promise your child that you will do such |
| and such, your kids will trust you. But if you don't do as you |
| promised, it will greatly damage your relationship with them. |
| Repeat unfulfilled promises often enough, and in time your kids |
| will doubt everything you say. Keep your promises, however, |
| and over the course of time, your kids will develope a great trust. |
| No parent who has any real concern at all for their children |
| would deliberately lie to them. No loving parent would say to |
| their child, "You can trust me," if they already knew they did not |
| intend to fulfill the promises made. Such a thing would be |
| terrible. |
| Now, if that is the case with an earthly parent, how much more |
| it is the case with God, our Heavenly Father. Jesus said so. He |
| said, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto |
| your children, how much more shall your Father which is in |
| heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" (Matt. 7:11) |
| The teaching is clear. The greatest love of an earthly parent |
| cannot approach the love and care of the Father for us. If we |
| cannot imagine ourselves violating the trust our kids have for us, |
| then how could we imagine that God would make a single |
| promise to us that He did not intend to keep? |
| Our Heavenly Father |
| Most of us wouldn't imagine going to our child and making |
| promises we knew we had no intention of keeping. Yet, if we are |
| really honest about it, all of us have accused God of being |
| exactly that kind of Heavenly Father. The Bible is filled with |
| promises God has made to us as His children. But because we |
| are human, and have little faith, we sometimes, if not often, doubt |
| Him. |
| For example, Jesus tells us that not one hair of our head can |
| fall to the ground without God knowing it. He tells us that if God |
| takes care of the lillies of the field and the birds of the air, then |
| how much more does He promise to take care of us. Now those |
| are promises. Big ones. And they are promises which are so |
| certain, that Jesus actually tells us we are fools if we DON'T |
| believe them. |
| Fools if we DON'T believe them? Yes. But this is quite the |
| opposite of what our natural minds tell us. Our natural minds tell |
| us that we are fools TO believe God. It is much safer to believe |
| and trust our own senses. It is "foolish" to believe and trust in an |
| unseen God. Especially one Who seems to go out of His way to |
| hide Himself from us. |
| Yet just imagine if we are correct in trusting our natural minds. |
| What kind of God are we then dealing with? What kind of |
| Heavenly Father do we then have? |
| Well, if God makes promises to us which He has no intention |
| of keeping, then He is far worse than any earthly parent who |
| does the same thing. Why? Because God is perfect. He has all |
| power to keep any promise He has made. Therefore, He |
| wouldn't have any excuses for breaking them. So a God who |
| knowingly promises things He doesn't intend to keep would be |
| an evil being. He would be the worst Father imaginable. |
| Now those are strong words, but nevertheless true. Imagine |
| going to your children and saying, "Seek ye first the kingdom of |
| God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added |
| unto you." And then having made that promise, you say to |
| yourself, "I wonder if they are actually foolish enough to believe |
| me? Do they actually think I meant what I said?" What a terrible |
| Father that would be! Yet unless God means what He says, and |
| says what He means, and will back up every word, that is exactly |
| what kind of Heavenly Father we'd have. He would be a Father |
| who bids us to stake everything on His word, yet One intends to |
| hang us out to dry if we do believe Him. |
| He Is or He Isn't |
| It is important to cut through all of the clutter of life and to |
| bring things down to the basics. The question is really pretty |
| simple: Is God faithful or not? Can I trust Him or not? These are |
| yes or no questions. There is no middle ground here. |
| "But..." There are no "buts." Either the Bible is the Word of |
| God, or it isn't. Either Jesus is the Son of God, or He isn't. Either |
| God means every word He has spoken, or He doesn't. Either I |
| can trust Him to the death, or I can't. Either He is with me each |
| second of each day, or He isn't. Either He cares about the |
| details of my life, or He doesn't. And I have to decide. I have to |
| decide whether I believe or not. For if I do believe, it leaves me |
| with no option but to fully abandon myself to the One I trust. |
| But what if I don't believe? Or what if I'm afraid I don't |
| believe? Well, then take that to God too. It is good and right to |
| be honest with God about our doubts. Indeed, if we can be open |
| and honest to God about our doubts, we are actually exibiting |
| the faith we thought we lacked! |
| When all is said and done, and the reasoning is exhausted, |
| and the shouting is over, I have to decide: Do I believe? Do I |
| believe enough to stake my life on it? Do I believe enough to |
| utterly and unconditionally stake everything on the faithfulness of |
| God? |
| God will provide us with many opportunities to decide. Some |
| of them will be little and some of them will be big. But I AM NOW |
| deciding. I am now choosing. |
| Our Road Map |
| Jesus Christ revealed a Father in heaven who promises to |
| provide for basic needs. In fact, Jesus tells us that it is so certain |
| that our Father will provide for these needs that we are free to |
| stop worrying about them. We can concentrate on seeking first |
| the kingdom of God. |
| Jesus also revealed a Father who is incapable of violating our |
| trust. The more we trust God, the more we find Him faithful. The |
| more we believe God, the more believable we discover Him to |
| be. |
| The hard part in all of this is that God allows contradiction to |
| His Word to continually cross our path. He allows |
| circumstances, our temperment, our reactions, and our failures, |
| to paint a picture contrary to His words. And then He says, |
| "Believe me anyways." In fact, God goes even further. He says, |
| "Stake your life on it. Stake your life on the promise that I am |
| your Heavenly Father -- One who cares for you far beyond |
| even how much you care for your children." |
| This is difficult at times, but it is necessary. It is difficult |
| because we start out mired in a realm which is cut-off from God. |
| We have to travel back to God out of all of it. Faith is our road |
| map. But it is a strange road map. It is a road map which has no |
| directions on it as to how to get to our destination. Indeed, all |
| that our road map of faith has printed on it is a picture of Jesus |
| Christ. HE is the way. The rest of it, the means and the outcome, |
| are in the hands of our Heavenly Father. |