Now I Have a Daddy!

Father’s Day. Tears. Disappointment. Anger. These are the emotions I remember navigating as I made my way through my first Father’s Day as a new Children’s Pastor. Young Rachelle wasn’t more than six years old, but she already knew the deep pain a negligent father could bring to one’s soul. As the construction paper and markers came out for cards, her arms folded against her chest, tears slipped out, and she angrily protested our craft, “But I don’t have a daddy!”

Thankfully Rachelle’s sorrow is not my only memory of that first Father’s Day Sunday School. I shared the Good News of the Gospel that day and invited the kids to consider joining God’s family. Rachelle prayed a simple prayer as I taught. She interrupted the class with great delight, “Now I have a Daddy!”

Even after nearly 20 years of teaching Father’s Day, I still enter the day with a little trepidation. I’ve seen those same tears of anger, heartbreak and feelings of injustice year after year. I’ve also observed with joy as a child finally knows the embrace of a good Father when they accept Jesus.

Of course, the tears on Father’s Day do not only come from children. Many adults carry that same pain. Father wounds leave holes into adulthood, and often adults shrink back in fear at the thought of God as Father. It makes sense. The title father can desperately hurt. But what if we as adults adopt the faith of a child - the kind of faith that says God is good? He is a good Father (Psalm 68:5). He won’t leave - He stays near (Hebrews 13:5). He doesn’t condemn - He welcomes (Romans 8:1). His touch does not abuse - He heals (Exodus 15:26). He does not ignore - He bends down to listen (Psalm 116:2). This is our Father God and He is waiting for you. I‘ll always remember the smile that lit up Rachelle’s tear-streaked face when she first glimpsed the love of a Father. My prayer for those who hurt this Father’s Day, is that you will become like little children. May you risk trusting Him as Daddy and begin to understand how vast and deep His love for you is (Ephesians 3:14-17).

5 Steps In My Journey of Hearing God’s Voice

Through the first half of my journey with Jesus, I did not know that He would speak to me personally. Looking back, I can recount many times He spoke, I simply didn’t know to listen. When I first encountered the truth that God still communicates personally to individuals, I started out on a journey of learning to hear God’s voice for myself. The following are 5 steps that took me from ignorance in learning to dependence on hearing.

1. Educate myself

Fear, doubt, misconceptions and insecurity were like noise-cancelling earphones, blocking me from hearing God. To learn to listen required a whole new mindset, much of which came through a simple education. Learning what Scripture says about the voice of God, hearing people’s testimonies, attending seminars and reading books were like a school of learning, and was the first step in unplugging my ears.

2. Believe

Once I understood that God still speaks (John 10:27) and will not be silent, my doubts dissipated. I then needed to journey out of the mindset that God “might speak to other people, but He wouldn’t speak to me”. I needed to believe He would speak to me before I could ever start listening.

3. Seek

One of my favourite verses is “Seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13, NIV). I love this passage because I’ve discovered the truth of it. In a good game of hide and seek , a child feels great excitement to find the one hiding. In similar manner, a seeker of God’s voice has great incentive to find the hidden One out of desperation for His intimacy and direction. He is hidden, but not hidden enough that He can’t be found. Instead those who don’t care to find Him (listen) simply won’t. I knew a deep longing to hear His voice and began to look for Him and be still so I could hear. I intentionally stopped dwelling on the assumption that He wasn’t talking to me, and kept knocking at His door until I recognized Him.

4. FAIL

It has been said that to fail is simply a first attempt in learning. I remember the first time I thought I heard God’s voice directing me, made a decision based on that direction, and was wrong. I felt devastated - back to the doubts and discouragement. In time, I learned to value the “fail”, because the fact is that hearing incorrectly was an important step in recognition, and it was key in learning to test what I sensed God was saying.

5. Pay Attention

Even after experiencing the intimacy of personal communication with God, the intensity of life can be distracting. God is always speaking, but am I listening? Every once in a while, I realize that I have not been paying attention. I need to intentionally slow down and take measures to be still, ask questions and journal His response.

God’s voice has become a lifeline for me. I recognize that I cannot do life without His clear direction. I crave the fellowship of connection with my Father. I listen for my healing, for the next step, for my kids, for my marriage, for my ministry, for direction. My journey with Jesus, my understanding of who I am, who He is, and who we are together is so much deeper because I learned to listen.