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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.

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