God The Father

It seems like we hear a lot about God, the Father.  We talk about His love, His protection and His provision.  But we don’t talk much about the Father as a teacher, or disciplinarian. 

What are fathers like?  They love us, they provide for us, try to keep us safe, protect us, and teach us.  Fathers are, ideally, our protector, teacher, guide, encourager, disciplinarian, boss, wise, caring, and strong, and the ones that love us unconditionally.  They correct us when we are wrong.  They train us on how to go through life, relationships, and daily things like riding a bike, driving a car, getting a job, balancing a checking account, etc. 

Are they perfect?  No.  Would we want them to give us everything we ask for whether it is good for us or not?  Sometimes, maybe, but when we are realistic, the answer is no.

So why do we think that God never says no, or corrects us?  And do we realize that He sometimes disciplines us when we do things wrong?  He even trains us which can be hard but necessary.  There are some things that you can only learn by going through them.  You can’t learn them from a book or by just talking about it.  Experience is the great teacher. 

And about God saying no - at times maybe we do not even realize God is saying no.  Is this where we sometimes think that God is not answering our prayers, because the answer is not what we are expecting or hoping for?  Are there times when God is silent?  I think so.   Usually there is something that He is showing me like waiting on Him or I find that I am seeking Him in a new way.

So how do we respond when God is disciplining us, or says no?  We can get offended, we can withdraw, we can be hurt because our teachings of a loving Father and Provider doesn’t allow for the response of "no" from God.  OR, we can embrace what God is doing.  We press in to Him and listen to what He is saying in the situation.  We remember that all things work to the good of those who love Him.  So whether I understand everything, I can trust that it is working something good in me. 

We can get so wrapped up in this life that we forget that there is an eternity and that God is working something in us eternal.  This is an amazing thought that there is something so precious that God wants to do in you and me.  It’s not haphazard.  There is something to it.  Remember that God’s desire is to have relationship with us, for us to work with Him, and to become like Jesus.  This doesn’t happen by just reading His word, or going to church.  This is a transformative work.  Yes, God’s word is powerful, but we need to embrace it’s work in us. 

Recently, there was a life and death situation for a friend's 14-month old daughter.  Prayer was asked for in this situation.  I noticed at times it seemed like people were quoting whatever scripture came to mind.  At one point, I think one reply mentioned around 11 scriptures.  I am not saying that the person was wrong in their use of scriptures.  Only God knows what scriptures were needed at the time to help the family in the situation.  But what it did was prick my heart and made me think "why". 

Are we afraid that if we don’t quote the right one, God won’t answer?  I don’t want to discourage prayer or discount praying God’s word.  I believe praying God's word is powerful.  But I want us to take a second to listen to the Holy Spirit and what He is saying in the situation.  I know I have had conversations with God, that I told Him that I know what my flesh wanted to see happen; how I think it should end up.  I could even quote a scripture that would back it up.  But I don’t know the future.  Only God knows.  He knows what is best for me better than I do. 

How do I know this?  Because I've done this and I've struggled with knowing that my desire was clouding my view of what God was trying to tell me. 

An example is Richard’s stroke.  God could heal Him and restore Him completely.  But when he was diagnosed prior to having any strokes, God said that he will be okay.  And now, over 8 years later when the stroke happened,  I questioned what God told me.  And God answered me and corrected me that it would be okay but it would not look like how I was thinking it should look.  Comforting but also disconcerting at the same time. 

As time goes on, I see more and more what God is doing.  There is a reason that we are going through this season.  I will continue to press in for healing and restoration according to His word, but I also look for what God is teaching us in this season.  And I am seeing God in a new way, seeing another facet of His love and desire for us.  So, although God desires that we would be healed, He is not healing Richard at this time.  Even though his condition can cause multiple strokes, he has had multiple TIAs but no more strokes according to recent tests.  Since Sep 2017, God is the only reason there has been no more strokes.  It doesn't mean that this has been easy, but it shows God is intimately involved in the situation. 

I heard a speaker make a statement that intercession is telling God what God told us to tell Him.  This makes so much sense.  Daniel prayed for the return to Israel because he read scriptures of what God said would happen in 70 years and it was 70 years later.  God wants us to work with Him.  In relationships, you don’t want one person doing all the work and the other just sitting on the sidelines watching.  The person watching also wants to have some input and action.  The other person also wants to know you want to be with them on this. 

The life and death  situation with the young child also showed something else.  We normally expect an immediate miracle.  But sometimes, I think the miracle is also in the process.  This current situation reminded of another life and death situation of a friend years ago.  The family was told there was no hope and to call in family from out of town because she was dying.  This is when God taught me to ask Him what He was doing.  I wanted to know if I was to pray for life or for comfort for the family.  God said she would live.  I prayed that and told her family what I believed.  I didn't know it until afterwards that a couple of other friends knew she wasn't going to die because they knew of promises that God had made to her and that had not been fulfilled yet. 

Against the odds (I think it was maybe 10% if that) that she would live, she did live.  It was a slow recovery.  She spent weeks in the hospital and rehab, but she fully recovered.  She has an amazing testimony of what God did during that time, and God is using her in mighty ways today.

So now in the current situation while praying, I felt God telling me to share this with my friend for her situation.  l told her about the process for my other friend some years ago and that God did do a miracle.  And I believed that God is doing the same with her daughter.  I believed God was saying she would live and to not be discouraged if it didn't happen immediately.  And the daughter who was dead but revived, lived.  And slowly, day by day, miracle by miracle, she is recovering and healing.   

Against all odds she not only lived but was restored despite what the doctors told her parents which was to prepare for the funeral, even after she had been revived.  During the weeks at the hospital, many people saw, sometimes overnight, a miracle in her recovery.  Doctors said she couldn't see; the next day she was tracking with her eyes.  She could only sit up one day for 10 seconds with assistance and the next day she sat up for 45 minutes by herself during physical therapy.  There were so many things that happened, encouraging everyone that was praying for her and those that were treating her.  After 2 months, every doctor she has seen since being released has stated she is 100% - despite what the tests showed and what the doctors originally diagnosed.  

In all this good news, we can ask the question, why did this happen in the first place to people who love and serve God?  Why did they have to go through this?  Do I have the answer?  No.  But I understand that God is doing something in our lives that we don't always understand at the time.  But there is something of eternal significance that He is doing.  And this is where knowing God, the Father, helps.  He is loving and He is also concerned with teaching us and training us.  He protects us but sometimes it is only in the doing of things or going through something that we really learn and are transformed.  So I can say with full confidence that "we know that all things work together for the good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" Romans 8:28. 

If, as parents, we protect our child from ever falling down; how will they learn to pick themselves up?  If we just talk to them about driving a car and they read all the books on driving a car, they will never truly learn to drive a car - only by doing it. 

This applies to things God wants us to learn.  We can read the Bible and listen to all kinds of messages, but if we do not apply these things or go through things where we need to use this knowledge, we really do not know how to do it. 

There is a saying I have heard and have repeated in the past about not asking God for patience because you will be put in situations trying your patience.  I don't say that anymore.  Because the truth is, only being in situations that try your patience, will you learn patience.  You have to exercise it.  So now I find myself asking God for things with the knowledge that it may hurt and be hard, but I want what He wants for me.  And I know that He will be with me every step of the way. 

And one more thing, He is cheering me on.  He is not going to give up and say that she will never get it.  He is my encourager.  Telling me that He knows that I can do it.  I can do all things through Christ.