Yesterday some of us were talking about how to develop a closer relationship with the Father, how to talk to Him etc. Of all the topics this one is probably my favourite, more so than dreams and visions or prophetic. Because this relationship with my Abba is my vital connection, my life force, without which everything else is moot. One sister was saying that she could picture herself walking very closely with Jesus but somehow was distant with the Father. Previously I didn’t give much thought to it.
I thought the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one so there wasn’t a need to split hairs to find out who I am speaking to. The three are interchangeable. But yesterday the Lord showed me that our relationship with God has everything to do with our inheritance. Heng also said how we see the Father has to do with how we receive from Him. It was true.
I saw how when believers seemed not to have such a close relationship with the Father, they probably weren’t as emboldened to reach out for their blood-bought inheritance. Last night as I was praying to the Father, it dawned on me why most believers had no issue talking to Jesus. Though Jesus came to show us how our Father is like, it was still hard for believers who didn’t have a good relationship with their earthly fathers to imagine how good our Heavenly Father is.
It was easier for us to relate to Jesus because He is our Saviour, He died for us on the cross and He is our great high priest in heaven, always making intercession on our behalf. As for the Father, some believers still had the image of the harsh and just God in the Old Testament even though we are now in a new covenant. The name that Jesus came to reveal about God is Abba, Daddy God.
Well, it wasn’t difficult for me to see God as a loving Father. Whenever I am downcast or discouraged, I would imagine myself climbing onto his lap like a little girl and curl up in His presence. I would find strength and encouragement by just being in His presence, looking at His face. Nothing else in the world matters when I sit at His lap. I would feel so safe, so protected and so loved by my Father. I know I am always His beloved daughter.
All this points to our identity, which God has been impressing me recently. Without being rooted in who we are in Christ, how we are God’s beloved children, we would not be able to inherit all that He has for us. Galatians 4:7 says this: ‘Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.‘ As sons of God, we are no more His servants but we are heirs of God through Christ.
And we are mature sons of God, having come of age to inherit His possessions. This topic came up at this time because we are about to be launched into our ministries and about to possess our inheritance. We need to know that the Father is well pleased with us even before we did anything. His approval isn’t in our performance but we are the beloved, well accepted in Christ. It takes a David (whose name means Beloved) to kill a giant.
When Jesus was baptised at River Jordan, God spoke from heaven and said: ‘This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ This was before Jesus even started his ministry on earth. God wanted Jesus to know He is well pleased with Jesus not because He was doing His will but because He was the Son. Similarly it is all about our identity in Christ, which is something the devil can never take away. It is in our blood when we are born again.
I understand for some believers who had harsh earthly fathers, it was hard to imagine themselves approaching God in this way. God is the righteous Judge, He is the Supreme One, so we have to approach Him with utmost reverence. That is correct but this Judge is also our loving Father. Some believers approach the Father in a solemn manner because this is how they approach their earthly fathers. But God wants us to approach the throne of grace with confidence to find help in times of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
I believe it is the Father’s heart to draw near to all His children at this time, more so than ever before. In the midst of the conflict and confusion happening in the world, there is a safe refuge in His presence. Everything will be ok in His presence. There is also joy in His presence. When we come to Him with tears in our eyes, He will wipe them away and replace our sorrow with joy. We will also gain His perspective after an encounter with Him. We will have the peace to know that He is still in control and all shall be well.
Not only that, we will be strengthened in His presence, emboldened to do His will and stand on His word because we know His heart for His people. Many people know God’s ways but they don’t know His heart. They see His power through signs and wonders but they still don’t see His heart. But when you see the Father’s heart, even in the absence of such signs and wonders, you will know what He will do next. This is very important because you know the character of the Father, how He is like from your walk with Him.
Personally I also observe that my disappointments and doubts are all directed at God, not Jesus. I know Jesus fully understands and knows what I am going through but as for whether God sees and understands, at times I couldn’t be sure. Or even if He saw how I suffered, I would then wonder why He didn’t deliver from that when it is all His power to do so. But God is so good. At times He allowed Himself to be grossly misunderstood by His people in order to achieve a greater purpose. And I saw how it was me who limited Him, not God.
But at the end of it, when I looked back, I would realise that He wasn’t just standing by the side, watching me suffer. He was right there in my suffering, like the fourth men standing with the three Hebrew teenagers in the fiery furnace. He was always there even when I didn’t sense His presence or when He was silent. Even when I don’t see it, He is still working behind the scenes, causing all things to work for my good. When He finally did the great reveal, I would always be in awe and repent that I had misunderstood Him.
Suffering and pain is very real. But in the midst of it, many people think God has left them alone. He has forgotten them or turned His face away from our sufferings. Or that God no longer loves them. But this is far from the truth! We should never judge God’s love for us by our circumstances but on what Christ has done on the cross. That is already the greatest demonstration of God’s love for us. If He did not withhold His only begotten Son but sent Jesus to die for us, why would He withhold anything else from us?
And so, what my own journey in the wilderness taught me is this: never judge God’s love for us by our circumstances. He has not forgotten about you in the wilderness. He is there walking with you every single step of the way. Remember how He was with the Israelites through a pillar of fire by night and pillar of cloud by day in the harsh wilderness. It was only when they crossed over to the promised land that the pillar of fire and cloud was no longer there. Instead they were told to follow the small ark of the covenant, which is a representation of Jesus.
Beloved, it is not surprising that the enemy will keep trying to attack our relationship with our Father because he doesn’t want us to inherit our inheritance. The enemy will always try to cause our trust in our Father to be shaken. He will cast doubts on the absolute goodness of God. He will make us think that we are forsaken, like orphans, left to fend for ourselves. But in Christ, God will never leave us or forsake. The sun is still shining even when dark clouds cover our skies.
Even for me, someone who has no problem picturing God as my loving Father, at times I would still be shaken in my trust of God. But God doesn’t hold it against me. He totally understands what I went through because Jesus already walked through it. I have learnt that in times of suffering and pain, seeking an answer from the Lord didn’t help. It wasn’t what I needed to hear. What I needed most is to be assured of the Father’s great love towards me and to just hide in His presence. It was His love and presence that carried me through the tough years of wilderness. Nothing else could.
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