In our second week of going through Gordon Dalbey’s Fight Like a Man we were challenged in the area of how well do we know God the Father. Gordon dropped this nugget on us, “The most gaping hole in men’s armor today is our not truly knowing God as our Father. Therefore, we don’t know we’re sons.”
I see it all the time when ministering to men of all ages. They are still listening to the voice of the “father of lies” (John 8:44). They remain deceived because their view of the Father remains skewed. This distances them from being overwhelmed by His love.
For years my feelings of inadequacy discounted me from receiving the life affirming words of the Father. So I lived as an abandoned son, an orphaned son, so the idea of drawing near to God was almost foreign to me. I needed that holy encounter that would cause me to cry out “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15-16, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
Unfortunately I was a slave to fear. Fearful that God was disappointed with me, frustrated with me because of my habitual pattern of sin. I believed I needed to clean up my life before I could approach His throne of grace. What God wanted was for me to come to Him in my weakness so that He could speak the word of forgiveness and bless me as His son. My bad theology thought I had to get it together before he’d even listen to me.
Fortunately the Spirit wooed me to a place of surrender. Amidst the tears and remorse the Spirit testified with my spirit and I entered into that place of sonship. I blurted out, “Abba, Father.” I finally felt like a son that was loved. I had a joy that is difficult to describe. The hunger for my earthly father’s love drove me to some dark places and many false ways of getting that love. The Spirit gave me the courage to enter into that place of healing.
I knew how to be the son of a dysfunctional father but now I was learning how to be the son of a loving, gracious, and kind Father. One of the greatest moments of my life as a Christ follower. My hope and prayer for you is that the Spirit woo you in the same way so you can come to know the Father and His deep affection for you.