This is my father, Tim Duncan. He is 71 years old and is preparing for another surgery to remove cancer from his body (Surgery is set for August 17th). We are prayerful that this will be the last. He underwent a major surgery last year for cancerous tumors in his bladder.
Another thing that brought him to my mind this morning was a short statement in our daily devotional reading. In Experiencing God Day by Day, the writer was talking about bringing honor and glory to the name of God. He went on to say, “We can so tarnish the name father before our children that it hinders them from loving God as their heavenly father.” This statement really hit home for me. As I thought about the relationship I experienced as I child with my father, I decided to take this statement one step further, I looked up the definition of “Father” in the online dictionary.
According to the dictionary, father means, “a man who begets or raises or nurtures a child”. I was amazed that the each characteristic was separated by “or”. My father was not a nurturing parent. He was in and out on the ”raising” part of the definition. We had a tough childhood to say the least. The good news is that after many years God has restored our relationship to what it should be. We have come to terms with the past and have decided to move forward.
I said all that to say this , because of my past relationship with my own father, it was very hard for me to relate to God as my father. I associated “Father” with hurt and disapppointment. Since that time in my life, God has shown me that when I accept Him as my father the definition of father changes to “he who begets and raises and nurtures a child”. In the process, He healed the relationship between my father and me.
He who begets: Psalm 139: 13-14-”For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
He who raises (provides): Matthew 6:32-33: “Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.”
He who nurtures: Deut1:30-33, “The LORD your God is going before you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. 31And you saw how the LORD your God cared for you again and again here in the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.”
I want to encourage you to pursue a relationship with God, the Father. (Not a religion.) Know Him in all His goodness and mercy. Seek His face and let Him care for you. He can heal all the broken places in your life!
Be Blessed in all that you do.
