My wife and I had a time of talking about the Bible and what God is saying to us lately. I talked to her about God as a father figure and how that works for me.
I told her it was probably easier for her since her father died when she was 10 years old. She wants that five father figure and so she can easily transfer that feeling to God and get that out of the Scripture.
I on the other hand had a father until well into my adult life. I knew who my father was and lived with him until I was an adult and moved out to go to college and then move further out when I got married and started my career. So for me it's more of a challenge to approach God as a father figure because I am an adult male in the United States of America and I've been taught that I need to stand on my own 2 feet and make my way through the universe one way or another.
It wasn't harsh, but my father taught me many things about being a man. He taught me to be honest. To share. That it's okay to cry. To love. To stay calm when you're angry, something I still struggle with but I've gotten better. He loved John Wayne and Western movies so that sort of rugged individualism permeated what he talked about. While being a Christian he fell out of going to church after some interesting experiences in organized churches and then began to talk about how God could be seen in nature and things that were created by God. But he got back into a church toward the end of his life.
But because of the American way and the thinking of making it on our own I tend to struggle with approaching God as a father.
But when I read about Jesus going off to be alone with his father and to meditate with his father and how he pleaded with his father at the end but ended up doing his father's will I can see it and I try. It's hard to let go and let God take something when I feel like I need to drive and make it happen through force of will or eking out a finish over the goal line or whatever.
One of my takes on God as a father figure is different than I've heard from other people. When I read the book of Job I know that so many people get wrapped up in the troubles that Job had. Troubles that were caused by the devil, not by God. But I don't want to get into those.
What I see when I read Job is God bragging about his guy. The devil went to accuse God. Before he even got to that point when the devil God pointed Job out and said have you seen my man Job? God bragged about Job.
Let me say that again: God bragged about Job! I remember in a Bible study with other adults that the church that we were going to we were studying Job. And I shared that thought with the group and I pointed to one of the guys and I said can you imagine if God said have you considered my man so-and-so! And he immediately started waving his hands and said no no no I don't want God even pointinh me out or knowing who I am.
That reaction has stuck with me for many years. This idea that we all need to lay low and creep through without being noticed doesn't sit well with me. While I don't like to walk around spending money like crazy and drawing all the attention to me with flashy clothes I do like to do my thing and be comfortable doing it and not be worried about people noticing me or not. I like it when people brag about me to their friends or family. I love the idea of God bragging about me, although I would hate it if anything were to happen to my family and friends.
I share this because as a father I love to talk about my adult children. When they were growing up I loved talking about the different things that they had done, sharing pictures and videos with my parents and my wife's mother. I loved recording journal entries about them and bragging about how great they were and when I got the chance I would immediately tell people about the funniest thing that one of my children it done lately. Even as an adult with adult children I love to tell people about what my kids are doing, including my son-in-law. Once you're part of my family you are part of my family.
Next time you read Job take a little bit longer at the beginning of the book and notice what God says about his guy. You can read it at https://www.bible.com/bible/97/JOB.1.MSG
