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[God said] ”I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” (2 Corinthians 6:18).
Once upon a time, not so very long ago or far away, a baby girl was born to parents who could not keep her. Neither parent was willing to release her for adoption, but neither was able to care for her. So while the legal system shuffled her case back and forth, the baby girl grew into a toddler in a foster home.
Her care was certainly adequate, her physical needs were met, and she never went hungry. Her clothes, though not new, were never dirty. Her toys, though not her own, were always sufficient. This little girl was not mistreated or abused, and yet, in her heart was a hollow space. She desperately wanted what she had never had—a mommy and a daddy of her own.
Only a few doors from the foster home lived a kind couple with a teenage son. The family wanted a little girl, the little girl needed a family, and the details of a trying and lengthy adoption were worked out. And while this little girl received a wonderful mommy and an adoring big brother, her relationship with her daddy was extra special.
Ashley was two-years-old when she entered his life. She was thin, pale, and clingy. By the time the adoption was finally complete, she was almost three. Ashley had never seen the ocean, eaten a Happy Meal, or slept in a bed in a room of her own. A few months after the adoption, Ashley traveled to the beach for her first family reunion.
She was overwhelmed with excitement and pride. She had received so much so fast, and it was hard to take it all in. Ashley asked everyone she met if they were part of her family. “Are you my aunt?” “Are you my uncle?” “Are you my cousin?” She ran from person to person showering hugs and kisses on her newly acquired family. “l love you!” she told them. “I love you all!”
When her new daddy took her to McDonald’s for the first time, Ashley didn’t join the other children on the playground equipment. She was too busy asking important questions: “Do you have a daddy? I have a daddy! See, that’s my daddy over there,” she exclaimed with excitement and wonder. “Isn’t he wonderful?”
“What’s your name?” she asked. “My name is Ashley JordanAmbrose, just like my daddy. I’m named after my daddy!”
Five years later, tanned, transformed, and confident, Ashley returned to the annual family reunion. This time she brought a scrapbook of pictures to share with anyone who would sit still long enough to look and listen.
“This is my story,” she would say. “See, this is where I lived before Mommy and Daddy adopted me. They picked me out special. See, this is my room now. It’s all my own. And these are my toys and my own clothes, and here’s a picture of my kitty and one of my dog and . . .”
Ashley has love overflowing for everyone, but no one is higher on her list than her daddy. He knows how to polish toenails, drip sand castles, tie hair ribbons, hold her in the night—and he calls her his little princess.
I love that story, because you see, I too have been adopted by my Heavenly Father – and He calls me his little princess. And friend, that is also true for you.
Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, O how I love You. Thank you for adopting me into Your family and making me Your child. Thank You for being my heavenly parent who loves me unconditionally, cares for me unendingly, and provides for all my needs. I am so blessed to be Your child.
In Jesus’s Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Look up these verses and note what you learn about being a child of God.
Romans 8:15-17
2 Corinthians 6:18
1 John 3:1
Make a list of characteristics of the perfect father. Now put a check by the ones that you have experienced in God.
Leave a comment and tell me 5 of your favorite characteristics of God as Your Heavenly Father.
Want More?
I don’t know about you, but for most of us, life doesn’t usually turn out the way we had hoped. Broken dreams litter life. But here’s the good news! God has a purpose and a plan. HE has a more amazing plan for you than you ever imagined. If you have lost sight of your dreams, grab onto God’s hand and travel to a place you thought you’d never find. The dreams God had planned for you all along. I’m offering a special offer to my blog readers for the month of April. Buy 1 copy of 5 Dreams of Every Woman: God’s Plan for Fulfilling Your Dreams and get one free. When you purchase 1 copy, we’ll ship you 2. It won’t show up on your receipt, but 2 will show up in your package. This is only for the month of April. Only for my blog readers.
[God said] “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters” (2 Corinthians 6:18 NIV).
When I was a little girl, my father spent most of his waking hours working at his building supply company, observing construction sites, and socializing with his colleagues and associates. Even though his place of business was only a few blocks from our home, his heart was miles away in a place I could not find.
My father didn’t drink alcohol every day, but when he did, it consumed him. Dad was filled with a rage that always seemed to be hiding just beneath the surface of his tough skin. And when he drank, that rage spewed out like hot lava onto those around him. Unfortunately, my mother was the most common target. As a child, many nights I crawled into bed, pulled the covers tightly under my chin or even over my head, and prayed that I would quickly fall asleep to shut out the noise of my parents yelling, fighting, and hitting.
I was afraid of my father. Even when he was sober, I kept my distance. At the same time, I observed how other daddies cherished their little girls. I saw them cuddle their daughters in their laps, hold their hands while walking in the park, or kiss their cheeks as they dropped them off at school in the mornings. And while I wasn’t fatherless, I felt as though I was. Deep in my heart, I had a dream. I dreamed that one day I would have a daddy who loved me—not because I was pretty or made good grades or could play the piano well, but just because I was his.
Then one day, the dream came true. I discovered that I did have a Father who loved me…and so do you. God is your Heavenly Father who loves you unconditionally, provides for you unreservedly, and protects you unceasingly.
In the New Testament, Jesus called God by the name Father more than any other name. He also invites us to do the same. Think about that for a moment. The God of the universe who created the heavens and the earth; who always has been and always will be; who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and present everywhere at once—that same God invites you to call Him Abba, Father!
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He said:
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. . . .” (Matthew 6:6-9, italics added)
My friend, Gayle has a granddaughter named Carlie. One day Carlie and her best friend were sitting in the back seat of Gayle’s car. Carlie and this little friend were born on the same day, and their moms were in hospital rooms right beside each other. Not only that, the two girls lived in the same apartment complex. One difference was that Carlie’s friend never knew her father. Her mom had boyfriends that came and went through the years, but never a real dad.
When Gayle kept Carlie on the weekends, sometimes her best friend came along. One day, Gayle had both girls in the back seat when she was running an errand. They were about five-years-old at the time. And just out of the blue, Carlie’s little friend said, “I wish I had a daddy like you have a daddy.”
And Carlie said, “Oh you do have a daddy.”
“No I don’t. I want a daddy like you have a daddy. I wish I had a daddy.”
“But you do have a daddy,” Carlie answered back. “We all have a daddy. God is our daddy. He’s everybody’s daddy.”
Gayle looked in her rearview mirror and saw Carlie’s friend hold up her hands in exasperation.
“Why has nobody every told me this!”
How precious! I have a daddy. You have a daddy. God is your Father and He loves you more than you could ever know. You, my friend, are the apple of Your Daddy’s eye (Psalm 17:8 NIV).
Let’s Pray
Father, thank You for adopting me into Your family. How blessed I am to have a Father who loves me unconditionally, cares for me unceasingly, and provides for me lavishly. I love You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
What do You Think?
Look up the following verses and note what you learn about being a child of God.
John 1:12-13
Philippians 2:15
Describe the difference between the actions and emotions of an orphan and a child of a King.
Which reflects your life the most?
Want More?
I don’t know about you, but for most of us, life doesn’t usually turn out the way we had hoped. Broken dreams litter life. But here’s the good news! God has a purpose and a plan. HE has a more amazing plan for you than you ever imagined. If you have lost sight of your dreams, grab onto God’s hand and travel to a place you thought you’d never find. The dreams God had planned for you all along. I’m offering a special offer to my blog readers for the month of April. Buy 1 copy of 5 Dreams of Every Woman..and how God Wants to Fulfill Them and get one free. When you purchase 1 copy, we’ll ship you 2. It won’t show up on your receipt, but 2 will show up in your package. This is only for the month of April. Only for my blog readers.
Click here to comment17“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
As you live and move and have your being in Christ, at some point, difficult days will come. We live in a fallen world, and suffering is simply a part of it. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble,” (John 16:33). It’s a sure thing.
When we experience shattered dreams, broken relationships, tragic losses, or unfulfilled longings, it can be difficult to feel God’s presence, to see His hand, and to hear His voice. Glory moments cease when we close our eyes in pain and tune God out in anger. That doesn’t mean that God is not there. It only means that the sadness in our own hearts has drawn the shades and locked the doors. We question whether or not we even want to live in union with God if this is where the path leads. We tend to wriggle out of His arms like an angry child or slip out of His embrace like a disgruntled lover, all the while hoping He will pull us back in and tell us that we have simply misunderstood.
Men and women throughout the Bible voiced their disappointment when God didn’t act as they had hoped. David cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” (Psalm 22:1). Habakkuk cried out: “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” (Habakkuk1:2). Even Jesus, when he hung on that cruel Roman cross, did not call out the comforting words of the Twenty-third Psalm, but the agonizing words of the Twenty-second.
Philip Yancey, in his book, Disappointment with God says, “The words of the prophets sound like the words of a lovers’ quarrel drifting through thin apartment walls.” I’ve read the words. I’ve heard the words. I’ve said the words.
And while we complain of God’s silence or seeming indifference during difficult times, He is always there working behind the scenes in ways we may never understand.
In the Bible, we catch glimpses of God’s veiled activity among men. Daniel prayed for three weeks while God appeared to be silent. Finally an angel showed up and explained his delay—a demon, the prince of the Persian kingdom, fought with him and held him back for twenty-one days (Daniel 10).
In another incident, the prophet Elisha and his servant were surrounded by Aramean enemies. Elisha’s servant was terrified and thought they were surely doomed. Elisha very calmly reassured him: “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then he asked God to lift the curtain of the spiritual realm and reveal the truth of the situation. “Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:15-18). Talk about sudden glory!
Three months after the loss of my second child, I broke my silence with God and prayed a prayer similar to Elisha’s. “Oh God, please open my eyes to see Your glory in this situation. If I could just see her. Please Lord, give me a glimpse.
And then God pulled back the curtain in my mind and I envisioned this child, healthy and whole and playing at the feet of Jesus. She was surrounded by God’s glory face-to-face. Radiant resplendent glory. Not an ounce of glory ache to be seen.
Glory moments do not require a physical vision, but a spiritual revelation—an understanding of a greater reality than this physical world in which we live. The unseen world is very real, and while we may not see God’s activity with our physical eyes, we can be assured of His provision and protection in ways we may never understand. When He said, “I will never leave you or forsake you,” He meant it.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen (our circumstances), but on what is unseen (God’s presence). For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18, parentheses mine). One day, it will all make sense. Until then…we trust. And when we have the faith to keep our eyes open during the dark times, God will scatter moments of sudden glory like stars in the inky sky. We hold fast and continue practicing Acts 17:28—even when we aren’t sure where that may lead.
Let’s Pray
Lord, sometimes I just don’t get it, but that’s OK. I don’t have to “get it.” I don’t have to understand. But I trust You. I know Your ways are higher than my ways. So I unfurl my fingers and release the tight grip I have on my circumstances. I give them to You. I am looking for moments of sudden glory…Your presence…in the confusing circumstances of my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Ready for a little finger exercises today? Here’s what I want you to do:
- Ball up your fist and think of a worry or concern you’re holding onto.
- Give it a name.
- Unfurl your fingers, open up your hand, and lift it to God saying, “I give this to You.
- Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
I think that’s an exercise we ought to do often.
Did you do it? Leave a comment and me know how many times you repeated this finger exercise today?
Want More?
Sometimes it is hard to let go, isn’t it. Truly, it is a matter of trust. Gwen, Mary and I have written a wonderful book titled Trusting God. It’s is a 12-week devotion book dedicated to that one single topic. If you enjoy our devotions, you will LOVE our book, Trusting God. And we even have free videos on-line to go with each of the 12 weeks. So gather some girlfriends and learn about how to trust God together.
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