Papa Don't Preach

"God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba, Father!'" Galatians 4:6
"See what kind of love the father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are...Beloved, we are God's children now." 1 John 3:1-2

There are more, but these are the two that struck my mind as I thought of this one. I am starting here, with a truth that strikes me as so hard to comprehend. We are children of God. We have a close, intimate relationship with Him, to the point we call out "Abba!" which means daddy. That is not a word that is used for just anyone. It signifies a close and personal relationship. And this is what we have with God. The one true God. The great I AM. The creator of all that ever was, is, or ever shall be. He is God over all the nations. And this God, I can call Him daddy. This He tells us. We are His children, beloved.
There are so many crazy promises in scripture that I cling to even as I struggle to fully comprehend or believe them. But this one is staggering. We are nothing, deserving of nothing, with nothing to offer. And He is God. There is nothing there that would merit Him to love me. In fact, there never was nor ever will be any reason for Him to love me, other than that He loves me. That He, according to His perfect will and purpose of election loved me and chose me before the foundations of the Earth were lain. That is staggering.
So why don't we believe this all the time? I think the thing that gets me is that God is so big that I am in awe of Him to a degree I cannot comprehend Him as a fatherly figure. Fear and awe and reverence cloud my view. And while God is to be feared, marveled at, and revered, He also tells us we have this close bond with Him.
It kind of is like children who see their dad as the greatest person ever, who can do anything and easily beat up anyone else's dad. He can do no wrong. They are in awe of him. They love him. They respect him. But they also are able to run to him. When they scrape their knee or there is a monster in the closet, he is there, close and personal. Even for all their fear and reverence of him, they never forget that he is their dad and loves them like nobody else could.
Driscoll told a story that ignited this line of thought. He was talking about how we are God's children and also about the fact that we sometimes, when we worship or pray do so with language that is extra magnanimous, thinking that God wants to hear that and will respond better for it. But he told a story about his son, who he woke up one night to hear shrieking. He ran to his son's room to find his son in great pain. Apparently he had gotten his first charley horse and it woke him up in terrible pain. And he said to his dad as he came to help him "Dad, make it better." No thee's or thou's. No lofty speech beseeching him and requesting his attentiveness. Just a simple "Dad, make it better."
Dad, make it better. God is our father, and He should be viewed as such. He is a loving and kind, caring father. And He deserves our respect, our love, our fear and awe and admiration. But He is always our father. To whom we can say, in a spirit of love and faith and knowing he cares, "Dad, make it better."
And that is a truth, a promise that we have; that we are children of God. That we can call Him Abba. To know that, the closeness of God. The true depth of His love. It is amazing and something that is unrivaled in all of creation.