We Can Trust Our Dad, God

By Marjorie Foerster Eddington

When I was a child, I had this recurring nightmare: from my bedroom window, I would watch robbers come from the street to our house. I would rush to the front door where they would start to come in. Sometimes they would make it in the house; sometimes they wouldn’t.

But what kept me safe was the Lord’s Prayer. In my dream, I would be kneeling in our front hall, praying the Lord’s Prayer. Then, I’d watch the robbers run down the street, and I’d wake up. The Lord’s Prayer always comforted me, chased away the robbers, broke the nightmare, and woke me up to reality. The reality was that there were no robbers. I was safe in my home. And I had my Daddy, God, taking care of me.

Daddy is essentially the word Jesus uses in the Lord’s Prayer when he says “Our Father.” That word for Father is Abba, which is in Aramaic (the language Jesus spoke), and it means Daddy. Abba connotes an incredibly comfortable, tender, close relationship of a daddy and child. And such a daddy would do anything (good, of course) for his child.

That same tender relationship goes with us as we move through the teen years and beyond. It’s just that sometimes we may not feel it. Sometimes navigating all the academic and social issues can be a nightmare. Sometimes we (or our friends) may be tempted to try to run from God or deny God’s existence or power. We may think we have it all under control and don’t need God. Or we may be overwhelmed with all the horrible things that happen and blame God. It’s an understatement to say that the teen years pose lots of challenges.

Whatever the nightmare is, God is still God. And God can wake us up. God is still our Father. God has not given up on us. God is still there for us, comforting and caring, guiding and guarding us. So can we lean totally on God as we go through the teen years? What if we want to and we’re scared that we can’t hear or don’t know God’s voice? God is able to make Himself heard. God’s will is done “in earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10). Because God is all good, God’s will is all good, and God is making sure that His good, heavenly will is done in our lives. So God’s going to make sure we can hear it.

Are we willing to trust OUR Father with school, career, relationships, family, everything, the way a small child trusts her daddy when she puts her small hand in his large one as they walk across a street together? The more we turn to God to guide us in our daily choices (even the little ones), the stronger is our relationship with our dear Abba, Father; the stronger we actually become; the more freedom we experience; the more successful we are.

We can wake up to realize our Daddy is right here, holding our hands, keeping us safe in heaven, now. And that’s the reality.