Father to the Fatherless

I'm going to digress back to my first post, and provide examples of viewing God as a Father. According to the poll I have posted on the side of my blog, the tally demonstrates that out of the people who voted, God plays the role of a fatherly figure. However, for those who didn't have a dad growing up, or didn't have a healthy one, it can be difficult to imagine God's perfect love for us as our Father. A good father provides, comforts, protects, disciplines, and loves us beyond what we can imagine, similar to what the Bible describes as God's unconditional love. This image of God may be difficult to understand for those who have not had this kind of love displayed in their lives. For example, I grew up without a Father figure for the most part, due to the death of my Father at age nine. Although I am familiar with the feeling of a protective Father, I have never had a mature relationship with him in which I understand his role and his purpose. However, throughout scripture, there are many examples of God being a Father to all who need Him.

Father to the Fatherless
How wonderful that He can fill that father role in the lives of those who don't have a one!

* Psalm 68:5, "A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation."



Provider
Provider:

He provides even the most basic of our needs.

* Matthew 6:26, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"



Comforter and Protector
In times of trouble, we can run to Him for comfort.

* Psalm 32:7, "You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall surround me with songs of deliverance."

* Psalm 34:17, "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart
, and saves such as have a contrite spirit."

* Psalm 94:18-19, "If I say, 'My foot slips,' your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul."



Disciplinary
Disciplinary:

Just as an earthly father is there to instruct and correct, so is our heavenly Father.

* Psalm 94:12, "Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O LORD, and teach out of Your law."

* Proverbs 3:11-12, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; for whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights."



One Who Loves Us
Who loves us:

I believe the greatest love was shown to us when Jesus died on the cross to save us from our own sins. He became that living sacrifice for us. Jesus tells us that the Father was in Him (John 10:38).

* Romans 8:38-39, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities not powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height not depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."