Midweek Message from the Archive
From the archive of my writings I chose this one today from Father’s Day 2012. I had been meditating on a couple of scriptures that describe God as our Father but from an unusually different perspective. It’s no surprise that God is called our Father; you’ve probably heard that many times growing up. However, have you ever wondered why God, as a Father, created you in the first place? Have you ever looked at your circumstances and thought, “He must have made a big mistake?” You don’t see any direction in your life, your existence doesn’t seem to matter, no one really cares about you, and it would have been better if you hadn’t been born? Sounds like George from the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. He was also at a low place in his life when he cried out to God, His Father (it’s not just a Christmas movie!). The scripture that I mentioned earlier as my mediation is this:
And yet, O Lord , you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are the potter.
We all are formed by your hand. (Isaiah 64:8 NLT)
The Father formed you by His own hand; did you get that? He created you knowing that mistakes would be made, knowing that you would fall short on occasion, and knowing that His destiny for your life is meaningful and good. You are not just some cosmic mistake; you were created with a plan in mind. But, you might say, just look at my life… and the Father would lovingly correct you:
No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? (Romans 9:20, 21 NLT)
No matter what your clay jar looks like today, even if you’re physically or mentally impaired, or your outward appearance doesn’t measure up to the world’s standards, be the best jar, of any kind, that you can be. How? What can you do? Scripture tells us that we can go to our Father for direction in that process:
But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! (Matthew 6:6-8 NLT)
Enjoy your Father’s Day or any day with a new perspective: Your life matters. He created you with purpose and He desires to reveal those purposes to you.
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