"Our Father"

It's good to be back in my routine..... we spent last week in Gatlinburg , TN with fifteen of our high school students from Skipstone on a Winter Retreat. It was a great week, and I pray that God used our time together to encourage and exhort our students to a deeper relationship with Jesus.

There are so many things that God showed me last week, that I'm not even sure where I should start. The week began with an incredible drive up to Gatlinburg, right through the heart of the Smoky Mountains. If you've never had the opportunity to drive a bus through the mountains, with elevation changes from 900ft. to over 5000ft., it is test of faith in and of itself!

It's been several years since I made the trip to Gatlinburg by going over the mountains, but it didn't take me too long to remember why I went around the mountains the last time I went. I remembered it being a little challenging in our family car, but it was pretty intense in the bus. I joked with the students about it when we got to the cabin, telling them that the only way I made it was to pray the whole way, even peeking now and then to see where the road was!

While the drive was intense, words can't really describe the beauty and majesty of what we saw as we creeped up that mountain trek and back down. I don't understand how anyone could see the beauty of God's creation displayed in such splendor and not be overwhelmed with the thought of how magnificent our God really is. It was truly breathtaking.

As I had time this past week to be "still", I thought and prayed a lot for the students and for what God would have Shondi and I to share with them. I kept coming back to very familiar passage in Matthew 6:9-13. We know it as "The Lord's Prayer", and it likely ranks up there with John 3:16 and Romans 3:23 as far as "familiar passages" go. It's so familiar to us, that it's easy sometimes to quote it and not even think about what it is that we are saying. As God drew me to that passage this week, I prayed for spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear from Him through that simple model for prayer.

Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)
This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

I didn't get very far before I saw something..."Our Father". Now I'm sure that this isn't a new thought for a lot of people, but it was as though God said to me "do you really see me as your father?". I had to stop right there and camp for a little while.....what does that look like? What are the attributes of a good father? Why is important for us to see God as our "heavenly Father", a father with a capitol "F"?

For me, this was a realization that He is the "Big Daddy" of all dads. He's not just "a father", he is "Our Father". I used to have a shirt that said "World's Greatest Dad". Now I'm so naive as to believe that was or is true of me now, or at any point in the past. The truth is... I'm nowhere near the top of the list of World's Greatest Dads, maybe not even on the list at all!

I know me, I'm a dad that needs a lot of work. I am blessed to have a good dad that loves me very much, but he would tell you that he might not make the list either. What God "whispered" to me in these two words, "Our Father", is that our ability to see Him as "Our Father" can easily be hampered by our own inadequacies and failures, and our perceptions of our earthly fathers. If we are not careful, we'll see His attributes and abilities through eyes that have been distorted by our own experiences.

How do you see God? Is He "a" protector, who seldom lets His guard down or is He "Our" protector whose protection is impenetrable? Is He "a" provider, who meets most of our needs or is He "Our" provider who "supplies all of my needs according to His riches in glory"? Is He "a good father", who tries His best but often fails, or is He "Our Father" who is perfect, holy, sinless, and blameless?

I don't know about you, but I needed to be reminded of whose child I am today!

Whatever It Takes,
Chip