A Father's Love

Jesus told us to pray to God as Father.

What father withholds gifts from his children on Christmas?
What father enjoys seeing their children hungry?
What father purposefully makes their child sick?
What father won't do everything possible to see their child well?
As children age, what father enjoys seeing their child struggle financially?
What father likes seeing their kid get picked on?
What father leaves when their kid disobeys?
What father ignores their child's heart desires?
What father only loves their child when they do things well?
What father only loves when their child serves him?

A terrible one.

As I'm writing this, I have this picture in my head of what a good father would love to see:

There's a boy playing basketball. But he's not just playing basketball. He's playing basketball from his heart and you can tell. He's pouring out all of who he is: emotionally, physically, mentally. He yells wildly to his teammates. He dives for the ball from his heart. When he messes up, he doesn't get discouraged at all. He just keeps playing. When he makes a great play from his heart, he pumps everyone up including himself. It's everything the son thought it would be and the son is loving every minute of it.

Or it's like William Wallace leading his troops to battle. Or in Rocky II,  it's like Adrian telling Rocky to "Win". Or it's like falling in love. Or it's like freedom breaking free.

 Jesus came to set the captives free. Real freedom. The kind that lets you loose to be you. The real you.

I say all of this as groundwork for what I know God wants to do in my heart... And something inside me knows it's not just for me. It's also for you. There's a freedom from bondage that God the Dad wants for our hearts and our lives. And to experience that, we have to stop falsely accusing God of being a terrible dad. If we want to live free, we can't keep thanking Him for bondage that He never put us in.

We've all had earthly dad's who succeeded and failed in certain areas. We all know some level of imperfect love. But there's a wild destiny that God has called you to. And to go there, you'll need to trust fully in the perfect love of your real dad in heaven. Because it's only when we experience that love that we'll be truly free.

God's working on me in this area. What you'll see in the blogs in the near future is what He's teaching me and what I'm struggling with. I hope to be honest... and at the same time, I hope to tell you the real truth that will set you free, just like it's setting me free.