"The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that
you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father." (Romans 8:15)
Throughout Scripture, God reveals Himself by various names:
Elohim
Jehovah Jireh (The Lord our Provider)
Jehovah Rapha (The Lord our Healer)
Jehovah Shalom (The Lord our Peace)
The list goes on.
Come the New Testament, and we discover a whole new level and depth of relationship that the Creator desires to have with us, His Creation. Not an aloof relationship of Creator – Created, but rather of Father-Son; Father-Daughter.
Jesus shocked many of his contemporaries by referring to God as his Father and by inviting all his followers to call God, Father, even "Abba", a familiar, intimate name meaning "Daddy" or"Papa"
I was thinking about this though and came to the realization afresh, that we cannot assume that everyone can automatically relate to the concept of the Fatherhood of God. Why? The reality is, when speaking about fathers or fatherhood, the topic conjures up different things for different people:
For some it causes happiness: we remember with fondness our earthly dads.
For some it causes some pain, because experiences with earthly fathers may not have been all that pleasant;
Fatherlessness in our current age is a problem. Many children grow up without knowing the love, the guidance, the care of an earthly dad (admittedly not always the fault of the dad - circumstances at time arise that are outside of his control).
What does one do when there is no earthy dad to "use" as a reference point for God?
"Instead of looking at my dad and then back at God, I learned to look at God first. I realized if God wasn’t my first source of fatherhood, I was always going to be off-balance. If I didn’t start with God, then he would always be the replica rather than the original."
Friend, I don't know what your relationship has been with your earthly father, but irrespective, could I encourage you to "look to God first"! In Him you will find:
the true Father,
the perfect Father,
the Father who does not disappoint,
the Father who does not break His promises.
PRAYER
God, please help me to call you Daddy,
When I find it so hard to do;
Help me know that you remain Papa,
Whether the storms be many or few.
Amen