The Love of The Father

God spoke to me tonight at Compassion Christian Church.

He showed me a metaphor of His love.

He showed me my role in the Kingdom and in His Family.

Tonight I went and listened to a sermon with a friend. He preached on Matthew 6 & anxiety. I was tired towards the middle of the sermon, so I was looking for anything to keep me awake. Like always, my eyes wandered around the room, trying to engage them in this night to listen to the sermon that I already felt would touch my heart.

I looked around the room at my fellow brothers & sisters in Christ as they devoured the words spoken by our preacher Marcus. I saw the colors of their hair, the styles of their shirts, the expressions on their faces. For some reason, I was continuously drawn to the man who sat in the section to my left. His daughter lay her head in his lap and he looked down at her, stroking her hair. It was an unconscious act of love that he showed for his daughter as he kept his eyes locked on the stage where our pastor stood. He didn't know anyone was watching and he didn't notice how long I would stare.

I thought of myself in the little girl: her hair was wild as she wiped it out of her face. She looked to be around the age of 5, as her fine motor skills had not yet developed enough for her to be able to use the full ability of her hand, so she sort of just pushed her palm into her forehead to semi-move her hair away from her eyes. This girl with crazy hair would grow up to be Daddy’s little princess, just like I was. She didn’t appreciate it now, but one day, she would remember the times when he would let her be herself. She would look back and know how much he loved her. And right now, he has no idea how how big of an impact that has on his little girl. 

As I watched a flashback of my own memories take place in another form, the words from our preacher rang loudly. He gave an analogy to his own 5-year-old daughter. He explained how when he is instructing his family to make their ways to the car and delegating who is to carry what, he youngest daughter always stops before she can make it to the car to exclaim of how heavy the delegated object is. He then turns to the stool sitting next to him and picks it up over his head, demonstrating how he always wants to impress that 5-year-old daughter, because that's his 5-year old daughter. Just like God treats us not only as children, but as His children. God wants us not to hide away the scary parts of ourselves, but to bring them to Him, just as every Daddy's girl brings every problem, grievance, or inconvenience to her dad because she knows he will fix it.

Marcus referenced a story about his own daughter, unknowingly explaining a father’s love of a daughter to a daughter whose father loves her unconditionally (me). 

Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about my own father, who would do anything for me at the drop of a hat. He would stop the turning of the world if it would take the pain away from my mind and bring a smile to my face.

And so would God. The only difference is, He can.

I cried as I watched this little girl be loved on by her dad. I cried thinking of how much love I have for my dad and how much love he has for me. And I cried knowing that that love surmounts to nothing compared to the love my Father in Heaven has for me and all His little children.

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Above all else, we serve a loving God. We serve a God who not only wants us to act as servants carrying out His Will, but as children to the Father.

I am the Daughter of a King, and that King can quite literally do anything to satisfy His children.

XX,

Caroline