Fatherhood~Friday

By Brooke Kireta

​God created families and the roles within families. Our mothers and  fathers are supposed to reveal things to us about who God is - the family is a picture of what God intends.

But we live in a broken world and in broken families. So what we get is a broken picture of God. No matter how hard we try or as hard as our parents tried, none of us are perfect, and we inevitably hand some of our brokenness to our children just like we were handed brokenness by our own parents.

It sounds a little hopeless if  we don’t factor God into the mix. He knows our humanity; He sees the brokenness. He wants to heal it. He is inviting us to recognize where we need healing and invite Him in.

Fathers are meant to provide protection, provision, and identity to their daughters (and sons). Can you look back at your life and ask Father God to show you where you might have missed out on any of those things? Did you feel loved and treasured as a daughter? Did you feel safe and protected from the world around you? Did you have your needs met - not just physical needs like food, clothes, and shelter - but emotional needs like acceptance, belonging, value? Did you have a father that called you into your true identity - that saw you for who you truly were - that looked beyond your behavior and your failings and called to the heart of the girl inside to be true to herself and her God, to be honest and brave and kind?

Most of us did not have all these needs met, even if we had a wonderful father. Because we all had broken fathers, just like we are broken daughters. In the places you see the needs were not met - can you invite Father God  to Father you in those places? Can you invite Him in to provide everything your heart has needed? He longs to heal your hurts and to reveal Himself to you in a way you have never experienced before.

He will heal our broken hearts and establish us in Him.

We end this week praying:
Lord, anywhere I have been carrying wounds  - I invite You in to heal those places. Anywhere I have been carrying burdens that are not mine to carry - I hand those to You and as my Father ask you to carry them for me. I am sorry for all the brokenness in myself and in my family. I want to be whole in You. But I know I cannot make myself or my family whole - only You can. Please heal my broken heart, comfort my  heart, and fill me with joy and hope. I  look to you, my Father, and ask You to come in ways I can’t even imagine, but by faith I believe You not only will but You want to. You want me to be Your daughter - You want to be my Father.  Come and father me.
Amen.

Isaiah 61:1-3
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
   and provide for those who grieve in Zion--
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
   instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
   instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
   instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
   a planting of the Lord
   for the display of his splendor.


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