Padre Celestial
Heavenly Father.
Yesterday, my Sunday School class discussed the Lord's Prayer. One of the questions related to the love of an earthly father and how much greater is the love of our heavenly Father.
I know these girls. I know their stories. They do not have the love of an earthly father. Save one... my daughter.
There is so much talk in US circles about how women who didn't have a healthy relationship with their biological father just cannot possibly perceive the love of a heavenly Father.
I wondered if I would encounter this with my girls. I delicately asked about their earthly father. Every girl responded that they have no confidence in their earthly father, if they even know him at all. Arlee did not answer. The other girls know that Arlee has a daddy in whom she trusts.
So, I gingerly moved to the question about how they feel about God as a Father. They literally LOVE the idea of God as a Father. The idea of protection, provision and confidence delights them. They seem to easily be able to believe in our God who is so opposite of what they have experienced.
Wow.
Another thing. We also talked about how after the Lord's Prayer in Luke 11, Jesus discusses how when we ask, we receive and when we seek we find. A few of these girls don't live at House of Hope and regularly don't have enough to eat. Asking and receiving are very real concepts to them. The responses were precious. They understand the concept of having to ask for the tiniest morsel, the next meal, their daily bread.
Wow.
Do I understand where they are coming from? Not at all. I have a trustworthy earthly father. I've never gone without a meal, even though I'm exploring the idea of fasting. I do not understand the concept of asking for my literal daily bread.
I pray for empathy. I beg God for empathy. If I do not have empathy, I have nothing to offer these young ladies. If I cannot put myself in their shoes, for even one hour, how can I share the Good News with them.
Maybe the real thing happening here is me, a grown woman, learning the Good News in a deeper way from them. That's just how my God works.
Yesterday, my Sunday School class discussed the Lord's Prayer. One of the questions related to the love of an earthly father and how much greater is the love of our heavenly Father.
I know these girls. I know their stories. They do not have the love of an earthly father. Save one... my daughter.
There is so much talk in US circles about how women who didn't have a healthy relationship with their biological father just cannot possibly perceive the love of a heavenly Father.
I wondered if I would encounter this with my girls. I delicately asked about their earthly father. Every girl responded that they have no confidence in their earthly father, if they even know him at all. Arlee did not answer. The other girls know that Arlee has a daddy in whom she trusts.
So, I gingerly moved to the question about how they feel about God as a Father. They literally LOVE the idea of God as a Father. The idea of protection, provision and confidence delights them. They seem to easily be able to believe in our God who is so opposite of what they have experienced.
Wow.
Another thing. We also talked about how after the Lord's Prayer in Luke 11, Jesus discusses how when we ask, we receive and when we seek we find. A few of these girls don't live at House of Hope and regularly don't have enough to eat. Asking and receiving are very real concepts to them. The responses were precious. They understand the concept of having to ask for the tiniest morsel, the next meal, their daily bread.
Wow.
Do I understand where they are coming from? Not at all. I have a trustworthy earthly father. I've never gone without a meal, even though I'm exploring the idea of fasting. I do not understand the concept of asking for my literal daily bread.
I pray for empathy. I beg God for empathy. If I do not have empathy, I have nothing to offer these young ladies. If I cannot put myself in their shoes, for even one hour, how can I share the Good News with them.
Maybe the real thing happening here is me, a grown woman, learning the Good News in a deeper way from them. That's just how my God works.
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