Friday 13 July 2018

God's love for the orphaned heart 1

As many people will know, you don't need to be lacking parents to be an orphan.  So many people like myself have experienced parenthood that was positional.  The ideal is that parents are functional and walk out the responsibility of parenthood.  Sadly, there are those who can interact with a person who was part of their being born but not engage the love and joy of having functional parents.  I have had this experience where my dad has been present-absent all my life.  As an adult I can pretty much live life without my dad but have to say it impacts on my relationship with my heavenly Father.  It turns out a few from our church also have issues in this area.  So how do we navigate these waters when 'father' was not exampled?

For many the main issue lies around believing that the heavenly (F)ather is not like your (f)ather.  I can readily accept this as a fact but it all gets snarled up when I have to go to the Lord when troubled.  My father caused much of my trouble so to go to my Father when troubled seems impossible.  The unlearning old patterns of thinking seems exhausting when you can't muster the faith to believe Father loves you.  Some have written books about their intimate relationship with their heavenly daddy and quite frankly it frustrates me.  'Thank you for telling me how cuddly you are on His knee!'  My experience is not that and I have to believe the unbelievable to even think he cares.

So I do my 'orphan therapy.'  I put myself in the shoes of the prodigal son.  Then I put myself in the place of the woman caught in adultery.  I'm then in Ephesians 1 seeing the Father has pleasurably, with all wisdom and understanding chosen me to be in the New Covenant.  Psalm 139 comes in handy and I am starting to feel better.  This is about me.  My Father has been pleased to give me the Kingdom.  All of this is great and helps but one thing slips through the confusion:

God made an independent free will decision to adopt me personally.

The Creator of the Universe chose me before anything was put on the clock.  This has to eclipse any absent parenthood that was also trying to recover from the fall.  God, in the most lucid state anything could ever be, saw every particle of your being, including the very bad bits, and elected you for eternal life.  Still not moved?

Now consider that the Father could not do any of this unless his own Son was crushed... and the Father had to do the crushing!  To rescue me and you, the Father went to ultimate personal expense such is His regard for you and me.  He had to inflict torture and pain on His Son to rescue us after it was us who willingly choose to rebel.  God took the hit for you, and it was of unimaginable proportion.

With this in view we can conclude that no father has ever done what the Father has done!  So you and I can take the component of 'I don't understand the love of the Father' and re-examine.  NO-ONE can fully grasp the whole nine yards of this love!  If anyone says they do then they either don't understand it or are fooling themselves.  Would I crush my Son for anyone or anything? NO!

Let us with orphaned hearts re-calibrate towards the Father and encounter this Joy!

Gary Ward

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