God As Our Father: For Those Who Call God, Dad

A woman sitting on a bench facing a symbolic cross

It was dark and quiet. A common occurrence while growing up in a semi-urban place. Then came the shouts and screams. Feet shuffled and someone broke into a run. My eyes met my sister’s and I sank deeper into the couch. 

The room felt colder as the chase continued. It was now faint but that did nothing to ease the fear that lit up my body in cold shivers.

Mom looked my way.

“Go and get your dad.” Her voice was a whisper.

Several scenarios ran through my mind. Was it a mugging? A robbery? Assassination? KDf soldiers chasing a spy? Okay, maybe my mind was in scenario overdrive. Tiptoeing, I went into my parents’ room and shook my dad awake.

“There’s someone outside and I heard a woman screaming,” I whispered and my dad stirred awake.

With His panga as a defense weapon and his ever-confident self, dad headed outside to assess the situation. Though there was impending danger, I was now calmer. Someone bigger, stronger, and more knowledgeable than me would and could handle the situation. 

My hope was built on the fact that our dad would do anything for us, his family. He loves us and does not hesitate to put himself in a situation that would cost him his life. If only it means saving us. 

Such is the relationship between God and his children. He calls them daughters and sons, and they call him father. With their whole being, they trust that God will be there throughout their life.

As a non-believer, it might be hard to imagine or think that God, the creator of all things, loves us more than our earthly fathers do. Yet, this is the truth. Throughout our lives, even when we are faithless, God is faithful. 

From the beginning of time, God had a plan to rescue his children and give them eternal life. He wanted to make a stable relationship with them through unconditional love. Being God, he realized that we would be imperfect, though that did not stop him from loving us.

How did God become the father of believers?

Ephesians 1:4-5 explains how God came to call us his children.

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”

Did you read that right? God wanted you, and the thought of having you as his daughter made him so happy!

Since the beginning of the earth, God has been working towards one goal- to unite the human race to himself. To those who call upon him, God will love, care, protect, and provide for them as a father would. He will show mercy, bestow grace, and abundant favor. These are the riches of those who call God, father.

Is everyone a child of God?

Everyone can become a child of God. However, worldly things that appear flashy and good blind most people, while in truth, they are vile, displease God, and draw us further from Him. 

There’s only one way of becoming God’s child: It’s only through salvation– Letting Christ take over your life, loving him by obeying his commands and trusting him fully.

How do you nurture the relationship with God as our father?

For any relationship to work, it takes a lot of sacrifices and spending time together. And this is how it works in the relationship between God and his children. You need to spend time with him. Again, he already figured out two ways that his kids could communicate with him throughout their lives. 

Prayer

This is how we get to talk with our father. It’s how we learn the plans and purpose he wants for our lives. Prayer is also a way to let God know our desires, regrets, pain, and dreams. Praying is not about how long you can pray, it’s always been about how sincere you are, and how eager you are to hear from God.

Sometimes, prayer is hard. But, you can always talk to God in two other ways when you can’t find the words.

The Bible

For many of us, reading our bibles is a chore. Yet, these 66 books contain the true word of God. It’s God’s way of showing us how to live in him and in communion with our neighbors. In the bible are the answers that many of us try to find in the world without ever having any success. 

#Are you struggling with studying the bible? I put up some helpful bible study tips that you can start with today.

To be called a child of God means that you are in a relationship with God the Father, guided by God the Holy Spirit, and saved from eternal damnation. Like a relationship with your earthly father, it’s a relationship of trust and obedience. If any of the two is lacking, then the relationship stagnates or breaks.

Are there any promises for God’s children?

It’s overwhelming.

There are so many good and great things that God has stored up for those who call him Father.

From out-of-this-world peace, spiritual/earthly providence, security, a joy that’s not found anywhere in the world to eternal life- the promises of God to his children are abundant. God’s children are his beloved and everything will work for good in their lives because they are called according to God’s purpose. (Romans 8:28)

The father loves them, and he will move mountains for them.

In the words of Peter the apostle, The Children of God:

 “…are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

In turn, the children of God obey him. They abstain from worldly pleasures, are humble, and kind, and live by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. His children seek him like a building guard would seek the morning light. 

They live in integrity depending not on their own will but that of their father’s. Though they suffer and face challenges, their faith remains rooted in their father. They trust in God and only in him.

Do God’s children suffer?

Yes, they do. Sometimes, more than those who don’t believe in him. To be honest, suffering is a part of the Christian journey that I don’t fully understand.

Paul’s words have always given me hope. In Romans 5: 3- 4, he talks about how suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character bears hope. So in the end, although we all hate suffering, it’s through suffering that our faith grows and our hope regenerates. 

And it’s through that hope, given to us by Christ through the Holy Spirit, do we live and keep our eyes on Christ.

Being a child of God is one of the best gifts that he could ever bestow on the human race. The most amazing thing is how we might search forever but no love will ever come close to how much God cares and loves us.

***

(My dad never caught the thief, but no one was harmed in the end.)

Are you wondering how I came to start my relationship with Christ? Here is my salvation story.

Further reading

Isaiah 43

Spending time with God

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