Daddy's Girl

Hey SISTAs!    I trust you all had a great week & are getting settled for a grand weekend. Seeing that most of us will be observing Fathers Day this Sunday I thought in this weeks blog we could share a bit on our relationships with our fathers; in particular the correlation between our relationships & our experiences with our earthly fathers & how that affects our perception of our Heavenly Father & how we relate to Him.  I have given thought to this off & on; well mostly when the Holy Spirit would be dealing about specific areas in my life. However, a few weeks ago one of the weekly lessons for the Sunday School class I'm teaching on "The Organic God", by Margaret Feinberg, challenged us to examine this aspect of our relationship with the Heavenly Father. Margaret shared how her experience of knowing her dad as being "big hearted" has affected her perception of her Heavenly Father as being big hearted.  Because in her experience, Margaret always found her dad to go "above & beyond" when meeting her needs/wishes, she has a belief & expectation of her Heavenly Father to be the same. This examining exercise has been uncomfortable for me. But I know that it is important to my continued spiritual growth & development. For there are ways in which my understanding of God can be strengthened by the relationship I have with my daddy, just as there are ways in  which my relationship with God can be unhealthy as I  "unintentionally project" on to my Heavenly Father experiences & ideas I may have had with my earthly daddy.  As Margaret Feinberg stated: " Many people naturally draw parallels between their earthly father and their Heavenly Father.  If  a person's dad was absent, always too busy, or rarely around, then a person may see God as uninvolved or distant.  If a person's dad was abusive, then a person may see God as harsh, judgmental, or even  cruel.  If a person's dad was performance-driven, then a person may see God as highly demanding.  At the same time, if a person's earthly father was loving, kind, generous, full of wisdom and grace, then a person may naturally see those attributes in God."

SISTAs I give you the same challenge that was given to me & others of my Sunday School Class: "Take a moment and prayerfully reflect on your relationship with your earthly father. Are there any ideas about your dad or experiences from childhood that you unintentionally project on God?  Spend time in prayer and ask God to reveal any of these to you.  Then, spend time in the scripture asking God to replace any false beliefs with a healthy, Biblically-based understanding of your Heavenly Father."

I pray that each of us will grow closer to our Heavenly Father knowing full well that He promised never to leave us nor forsake us!  May His love overflow in our hearts & may the spill over impact all others in our lives; yup even those earthly dads who may not deserve it.  Read & meditate on 1 Corinthians 13 as it is a good place to start.

Suggested reading:  The Organic God by Margaret Feinberg