So the Lord

Psalm 103:13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

We parents have compassion on our children when we see them fall down, scrape their knees, or lose a game, or fail miserably on a test they’ve studied for all night. It hurts our heart to see them hurting, and so we hold them, we console them, and we assure them of our love.

God does this too, and so much more.

We grow weary of disobedient children and sometimes lash out in anger.  We often don’t want to deal with unruly kids because we’re tired or they’re annoying.  And sometimes, we just don’t know what to do, even though we feel sorry for them, because we can’t heal their hurting heart.

However, God can. 

However, God does.

However, God will.

Need compassion?  Go to him.  His mercies are new every morning.

His Delight

Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

When we are correcting our children, they certainly do not feel as though they are a delight to us!  They feel anything but.  They don’t want to be corrected, because correction hurts, stings, and cramps their style.  However, we know that if we love them we will correct them and send them back on the right path.

My daughter’s little boy is 18 months old and recently picked up a glass candle from my table, looked at me, and started walking away.  I had to take it from him because I knew it might break and cut him.  Of course, he didn’t understand, but I loved him too much to see him get hurt!

God is the perfect Father, so if he removes a shiny object from our grip, it’s for our own good, whether or not we understand.

God loves you. He’s going to discipline you.  You won’t like it. But you are his delight.

Chew on those four phrases for a while… 

Dealt With

II Chronicles 1:8 You have dealt with my father David with great lovingkindness, and have made me king in his place.

Have you ever heard a father say to a child, “I’ll deal with you later…?” It’s obvious that child is going to get a strong hand of discipline for something he’s done that was not pleasing to his father.

God also deals with us in discipline, but he’s a loving father and only disciplines in love – never in anger or condemnation.  His purpose is always to restore.

Solomon was praying for wisdom and he recalled how God “dealt” with his father with great lovingkindness.

Will your kids remember the lovingkindness of the Lord to you and draw strength from it?

They won’t, if you don’t tell them about His great love.

The love of the Father is great, and even greater when we tell it to others…especially those in our house.

Forsaking and Provoking

Judges 2:12 and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the Lord to anger.

We’ve read several verses about the promises and goodness of God passed down to children, from fathers who love the Lord and serve Him.

However, here’s a verse about fathers who followed “other gods” and provoked the Lord to anger.

It’s not a small thing when we choose to shake our fist in God’s face and turn away to other things that we put before him, like self, adultery, lying, cheating, etc. – anything we turn to other than him for our sustenance and life.

He is to be God of our lives, at the top, or not at all.

There are serious consequences to turning away from God to other gods, not only on ourselves, but on our children as well.

Rest

Joshua 21:44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand.

Here we see the fulfillment of a promise made to fathers…to their children.  When we, as fathers and mothers, receive God’s word to us and for our families with faith, our children reap the benefits.

No enemies stood before them.  In fact, all enemies fell at their hand.

Do you want to offer your kids an inheritance, more than a 401K, stocks, lands, and houses? 

Give them the hope and promise of a Father who loves them and provides for all of their needs. Tell them of his faithfulness, show them his love, and teach them his ways.

And you and they will experience rest…on every side.

Honor

Deut 5:16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.

This is one of the Ten Commandments that includes a promise.  I think it’s because God is serious about honor.  We are to honor our father and our mother.

There are so many reasons NOT to honor our parents, for some of us. Maybe we had an absent father or a mother who neglected or abused us.  Neither of those parents is deserving of honor or respect, but we are told to give it.

We can honor our earthly father by praying for him, loving him when he’s unlovable, and giving time to him in conversation as best we can.  The only way we can do that is by loving and then letting God do his work in them.

Do you have an awesome father?  Honor him.  Was your father horrible?  Honor him…in your heart…and let God deal with his shortcomings.

If you make this choice, it will “go well with you” and yours…

No Fail

Deut 4:31 For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

So, maybe you don’t have a father or grandfather or father-in-law or any father at all who walked with God, and you feel as though you have no blessings being “passed down” or “inheritance” of hope or good.

We all are descendants of Abraham.  And God never forgets a covenant or promise.

He is full of compassion and he will never fail us, when we remember to remember.

If you have no one in your family to recall God’s faithfulness to you, sit down and read the story of Abraham and Moses.  Then grab hold of the promises he gave to them as your own.

God’s promises are faithful and true, even if generations turn away and do not follow him, and he sees the one who finally does…

He loves you, and He’s your faithful father.