Our Heavenly Father

Have you ever had days as a parent or caregiver where you didn't know what to do or how to handle a certain situation with the children in your care? Days where your children were acting out, disobeying and/or responding to your love and care with an attitude of ungratefulness?

I have! In fact, this happened the other day...

I went somewhere quiet by myself and started crying out to my Heavenly Father, asking Him to show me what to do.

He gently spoke to my heart, as He so faithfully does.

"Love her".

This was His answer. Simple, yet true to HIS character, true to how HE responds to me.

The Bible says in Isaiah 40

"He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young."

Did you catch that?

"He gently leads those that are with young." This refers to nursing ewes; sheep that are taking care of lambs.

Gentle (nahal): to protect, sustain, feed, guide, and lead gently on

This scripture is a beautiful picture of how the Lord, our Father and Shepherd, takes care of us as we take care of our children. He gives us everything we need: protection, sustenance and guidance as He gently leads the way.

As He whispered "Love her", this throught struck my heart: "My Heavenly Father loves me on my worst days. He draws me near, corrects me and completely forgives me. This is what He wants me to do, right now."

This thought drew me to the Word of God. I've been lingering and soaking in what the scriptures say about God's character and how He embodies everything I need to parent well. As my Heavenly Father, He is teaching me as I teach my children.

God the Father's character:

Compassionate

Psalm 86:15

"But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry

and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness."

The Prodigal Son Story: Luke 15

"And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants,‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate."

The word compassion means FULL of compassion and mercy. The Lord is our source of compassion. He tends to our hearts to help compassion grow for our children and others; compassion that meets our children where they are at, runs to them, embraces them and forgives them in their brokenness and humility.

Reproving

Proverbs 3:12

"for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights."

Reproves (yakech): to show, to be clear, to correct

Hebrews 12:6

"For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

God corrects those whom He loves. He has given us the Holy Spirit who convicts and transforms our hearts to treasure Jesus above all else, to love Him and respond in obedience. Our Father is not afraid to say no because His ways our far above ours. He knows what is perfect, right and for our ultimate good. He calls us to correct our children by pointing them to Him and passionately teaching them from His Word. We are called to correct and draw our children's attention to our Father.

Forgiving

1 John 1:5 & 9

"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Faithful (pistos): trustworthy

Just (dikaios): equitable in character, righteous and holy

When we fail, and we do as parents, we can have full confidence that He forgives us because HE is trustworthy and righteous. He removes our sins from His mind, as far as the east is from the west. He cleanses our hearts and lives from unrighteousness, drawing us toward Himself and all that is good and right. There are no stipulations in the Word of God on forgiveness. We have been forgiven much and because of this, our Father calls us to forgive everyone.

Intimate

Matthew 10:29-31

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."

Psalm 139:13-15

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth."

Our Heavenly Father knows us intimately and cares about the details of our lives. We are valuable to Him and so are our children. We are all precious souls, designed and intracately woven together by our marvelous Creator.

Loving

1 John 3:1

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are."

1 John 4:10-11

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

1 John 4:18-19

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us."

1 John 5:3

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome."

Through faith in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection, we are welcomed into the family of God.

God the Father calls us HIS.

He loved us, and still does love us, with a pursuing love. Out of love, He gave us His one and only Son to die in our place, for our sins. He loved us when we were broken, bruised and beaten down by our sin. As a son or daughter of God, surrounded in His perfect love, there is no fear of eternal punishment. We are forgiven, rescued and will be completely restored as we rejoice in the presence of our loving Father for all eternity.

It is because of this love we respond in obedience. We don't view His commandments as burdensome, because we believe that our Father commands only what is ultimately best for our lives. His boundaries are life-giving! His boundaries help produce His character in our lives.

We obey out of love for the One who loves us perfectly!!

We are called to remind our children that God loves them perfectly and point them to the only One who can completely fill their need to be loved. We are called to love our children and others as God has loved us and we are called to live a life joyfully given to our Father's lead so that our children will see that we obey in response to our Father's love.

Patient/Slow to Anger

Psalm 86:15

"But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness."

Exodus 34:6

"The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness..."

The Lord is slow to get angry with us, in fact, He poured all of His wrath, for our sin, on Jesus. Anyone who has rested their faith in Jesus is no longer under the wrath of God. When we sin, He forgives us and is patient with us as we grow and mature in Him. We are called to patiently tend to our children as they learn and grow; to be merciful and slow to get angry, while we faithfully love them.

How can Gods character teach us as we teach our children?

As parents, teachers or caregivers of all different sorts, we have been given the awesome responsibility of reflecting the character of God to the children in our care.

In order for my Heavenly Father to teach me, I need to be teachable. I need to be receptive to His gentle voice and follow His lead. Meditating on truth, on scriptures that speak about His character, is one way I can learn. As I behold the multifaceted character of my Father and His great love for me, my love for Him will grow. As I taste and see that the Lord is good, I will desire to meditate on His Word more and as I do, His Holy Spirit will cultivate change in my heart.

Yielding to the work of the Holy Spirit, is another way I can learn and grow.

His work only produces what is good.

His work reminds me to talk to my Father about everything.

His work gently prods me to follow God's lead and dwell abundantly satisfied within His

boundaries.

His work produces character that reflects the compassionate, loving, reproving, forgiving and patient character of my Father.

Lastly, I can talk to my Father often, every moment of every day. He is never unavailable! As I talk to Him, He will teach me. He has already invited us to come boldly before His throne and ask for help in time of need. Remember, He knows His children intimately. If we come before Him and ask Him to help us reflect His character to our children, He will!

This is His will.

"The only person who dares wake up a king at 3 am for a glass of water, is a child. We have that kind of access." (Timothy Keller)

We have that kind of access to our Heavenly Father.

Show me how to love and care for my children Father, as you love and care for me...

Sincerely,

Amy