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Reflecting on Father’s Day.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3: 1a)
Father’s Day is a powerful, evocative day. However it began, it’s become a day the heart and mind forces us to remember. It might be to remember to make a call, pay a visit, make a reservation, buy a gift. But ultimately we’re reminded of probably the most definitive relationship of our lives.
My remembering began at about 2am this morning. My first memory was of a conversation with my father, a man I’d never known. Regret was met by reconciliation, hurt made whole by His Healing as forgiveness flowed. Then determined to interrupt, the present day overtook the past as memories of recent Father’s days with my husband and our kids, flooded my mind. They were pictures of loving foundations and security and fun, the fruit of sweet redemption. Then another memory came. It was The Day I Met My Father. Not my earthly father, but my Heavenly Father. I was a Christian, but I was empty and hurting, growing without a solid foundation. I’d had my own ideas about who God the Father was, my theology distorted and defined by my experience. I needed healing, I needed redemption, but first I needed an introduction. It was the beginning of a journey of discovering God the Father. God my Father. It was difficult at times; sometimes frustrating, sometimes painful. There were days, even months where I slipped back into old well-worn patterns of thinking. There were dark times where I felt trapped in the lie that God the Father had abandoned and forgotten me. Still, Grace paved a path through the brokenness. God provided people who’d point me to the truth about a Savior. The Spirit of God moved deeply on the fault lines of my life and sealed me. God provided an abundance of fathering through people whom he used to restore what the locusts had eaten…(Joel 2:25) The doubts and darkness encroach occasionally, but now His Word speaks louder than any other…
On this Father’s day, what do you remember? Do you need an introduction to God the Father?
It’s often said that understanding our true identity is a fundamental issue for today. If that’s the case, we don’t need to look within ourselves, because identity is given. We know who we are when we discover whose we are. There we’ll discover who we be, what to do, where we belong. So knowing God the Father for who he truly is – is the real fundamental issue.
However, that doesn’t make it easy for many of us. Sometimes the specters of the past haunt our existence and undermine our relationship with God. Our theology is distorted and defined by our experiences. In their own human frailty…our fathers abandoned us, so will God be there for us? Our fathers were cruel disapproving tyrants always disapproving. Will God only approve us when our churches are “successful”? Our fathers were preoccupied, surely God is too busy to tend to our needs, answer our prayers. Our fathers were passive or absent, so our Heavenly father is disengaged and wouldn’t speak to our hearts and minds…Our fathers let us down, we need to be prepared for God to do the same, so we don’t allow him full control of our lives….
I’ve learned over the years it doesn’t matter who we are – college professor, theological scholar, church planter, pastor, stay at home mom, doctor, ministry leader. Our understanding of God the Father fundamentally matters in every season and stage of our lives. It shapes our entire existence, how we live, how we love, what we do….
So on this Father’s Day when your heart and mind causes you to remember, embrace the kairos and allow the Lord to take you deeper. Stay awhile and observe your walk with God. Dig a little deeper and reflect on your life. If your earthly Father gave you a glimpse of God’s glory, remember, rejoice. Share the legacy you’ve received in your life with others. If your earthly experience leaves you conflicted or wounded, pause and consider. Resist the urge to fix the broken pieces of your life through your job, your success, your relationship or your vices. They’ll only leave you empty and wanting. Do something that calls for true courage. Bring your life, your broken life to the King. There you’ll discover that your redeemer lives (Job 19:25). There you’ll be introduced to your heavenly Father and a new journey can begin. It’s not too late.
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7 Responses to Reflecting on Father’s Day.
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Dear Jo,
I stumbled upon your blog after remembering some of the ‘talks that really meant something’ at Soul Survivor over the years. I am now further away from a belief in God than I ever thought I would be. Having trained as a Christian Youth Worker and spent years volunteering/working in the church. I appreciate your reflection on Fathers day though and wanted to drop by and say thank you for encouraging people to think about God as father and how our earthly relationships might affect that.
I honestly don’t think I will ever consider a ‘faith’ in God again, it’s been a long road but I do appreciate the prod to think about it again. Anyhow, enough rambling from me, thanks.
Take care,
Laura
Laura, thanks so much for your kind words - a shame we didn’t get a chance to meet back in the day! So sorry to hear of the challenges and struggles of recent years. I pray that somewhere on the long road, there is a wonderful reintroduction to the Father again defined by peace and rest. Much love x
I often stand back and smile as I watch my husband’s relationship with our kid’s.
Neither of us having had a fantastic childhood relationship with our own father’s, it’s now such a gift from God to experience a healthy, loving, protective, nurturing and yes, fun, father/child relationship albeit from a different angle.
Imperfect yes, but insightful into the heart of THE Father.
Thanks Jo — powerful words. You know, I hit up against a wall in my relationship with Him recently and He said to me “what if I am to you who you let me be?” — and I realised that because of my own filters and experience-based beliefs, I have been limiting what I have received from Him in certain areas. So yes, Amen! Timely wisdom, thank you.
Zoe- redemption is fabulous isn’t it? How great that we get to experience a new perspective every day!
And Hannah- I love your observation that sometimes its certain areas in which we default to a distorted view of the Father. It’s so important that we allow him to heal and transform every part of our lives….
Jo, thanks for your wise words. Our childhood or parenting does not have to define who were are. My Dad became a Christian when I was 5 and it made for a turbulent family life but God has been faithful and I thank him all the time for an earthly father who was filled with such a passion for him that it set me on fire and his example has been a steadfastness for me in uncertain times.
Fiona x
Great testimony Fiona- thanks!