Happy Father’s Day // Galatians 4:6
Happy Father’s Day! This is a Father’s Day I’ve looked forward to for a while as I am always eager to share it with Ethan, and this year, I get my first with Brighton. It’s a pretty awesome thing being daddy to my three kids, missing Mia as I do every single day. What’s beautiful about this experience is I have my own child, and others I claimed and raise as my own through adoption. Adoption is a powerful metaphor in the Bible because of what it means. God has His own people in those of Jewish descent, but He also gives everyone the right to be His children through the love manifested in grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. There are a handful of references to God as father in the Old Testament, but the relational aspect of God’s love takes on a whole new dimension in the New Testament. Jesus referred to God the Father as, Abba, which is an intimate relational word like, daddy. Christ wanted us to know the heart of God like a child and his or her daddy.
This brings to mind something that happened the other day which helped me to truly experience my relationship with Brighton. She has recently discovered the fright of noises she cannot identify. Usually, it’s just a truck or car with a loud engine. She heard a noise and immediately dropped what she was doing, ran to me to be held, and buried her head in my shoulder. That took me back to our travel in Taiwan and how consumed she was with fear. She didn’t know us and had not developed any sense of trust. That piqued her fear and kept her in a constant state of hypervigilance. Now, when she feels frightened, she knows she not only has a daddy to whom she can turn, but an entire family! She has a mother, brother, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and friends as close as family. She now knows she has a place to turn where she can flee when she’s scared, hurt, anxious, tired, hungry, messy, uncertain, or just looking for someone to snuggle, cuddle, and rest.
God wants this for all of us! God wants you to know He is here for you to turn when you’re scared, hurt, anxious, tired, hungry, messy, uncertain, or just looking for someone to snuggle, cuddle, and rest. Will you accept this amazing gift and your place in God’s forever family? I pray you will, knowing there is no better way God would rather celebrate a Happy Father’s Day than with you. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been part of God’s family for days or decades, He wants you to know Him as daddy and receive the protection and provision only He can provide!
