Hannah, with great anguish and sorrow, poured out her heart before God, and prayed, “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, chosen by God, and yet one who was rejected, imprisoned, and abused by man, he too approached God and called Him, “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” He also called Him the Sovereign Lord, the great and powerful God. The psalmist gave praise to God, sang of His goodness, and spoke passionately of His works. God was “King, the Most High, the Almighty, the Lord robed in majesty.” In his suffering, the psalmist pleaded with God, and yearned for His unfailing love and protection. When I reflect on these Old Testament believers, I see their God as I once saw Him as a much younger believer. He was the God of holiness, one to be feared, and one who was very much set apart from those who desperately wanted His closeness. He was “away out there,” as Ralph Carmichael once sang, and only chose to care when I could somehow manage a worthiness He could approach. I am not inferring that the Old Testament believers all saw God as I once did, but I do delight in what happened when the footsteps of Jesus walked the same dusty roads as man was walking and He opened the hearts of believers to the Fatherhood of God. No, He is not a universal Father embracing all of mankind as His children, but for those of us who have come to Him through Jesus, He becomes to us, as He was to Jesus, Father.
Jesus taught His disciples to pray to their Father. He encouraged them to pray and ask for whatever they needed because their Father already knew their need. He taught them of their merciful Father who forgives, the watchful, caring Father who provides, the Father with a stubborn, unyielding, incredulous love who values and delights in His children. He is the Father who longs for His wayward child to return home, and when He sees her on the horizon, He runs to her, embraces her, celebrates her return, and keeps on loving her. Securely, the Father holds His child in His hands. He literally adopts us into His own family making us His daughters, becoming the intimate Abba Father. He is the Father of mercies, of compassion, of comfort, the quieter of our hearts. He is the benevolent Father who gives and gives and gives some more, simply because we belong to Him. He gives grace and comfort, hope and encouragement, and He never changes. His steadfastness defies comparison and my childish heart is fully satisfied.
And what does my Father ask of me in return? To give Him my love, imperfect though it will be. To find His grace to believe Him, to trust Him, to obey Him. To be profoundly aware of what He has given and to simply say, “Thank You,” from a heart that is deeply grateful. He longs to be honored, glorified, and revealed to others, and because of His longing, He profusely gives all I need to accomplish His longing. I am able to rest and to be at home within His sustaining, directional, enabling love. And His love within me enriches and multiplies whatever He calls me to so that I become an imitator of my Father, drawing others to Him so they too can call Him, Father.
– Bev
(Related Bible reading: You could take a walk through the New Testament or you could simply read the first part of 1 John 3:1.)
