“You don’t care about how I feel! You never listen to me! You don’t love me!”
Note to parents: When your child screams these words at you, you may have a mess to clean up.
Bram (my son) is in the middle of football season, and it’s tough. He has 2-3 practices and a game every week. He goes to school, does homework as soon as he steps off the bus, shoves some dinner down, and heads to practice.
On this particular day, Bram was understandably tired. He voiced that to me by saying, “Dad, I think I want to take a season off from sports.” Being a hater of baseball and lover of basketball, I responded with the wisdom of a fool, saying, “Bud, you can take a break when baseball season comes around in the spring!”
Bram broke down, ran to his room, slammed the door and wept in his bed. I blew it. In my pride and hardness about an 8-year-old’s extracurricular preferences, I completely shut down an opportunity to meet him where he was at and walk through something that was hard for him.
His conclusion: “You don’t care about how I feel! You never listen to me! You don’t love me!”
Of course, his conclusions weren’t accurate of my heart, but it’s exactly how I acted. I had portrayed that my heart toward my son was cold, distant, and unwilling to consider his desires.
As I recovered perspective (thanks to the firm encouragement of my wife), I became saddened by Bram’s perceptions of my heart toward him, and the Lord began to prod at my heart.
As a parent, I carry a unique responsibility to express the heart of the Father to my kids. If you were to ask my kids what Father God’s heart is for them based on their experiences with me (their earthly father), what would they say? If you’re a parent, what would your kids say?
For all followers of Jesus, the responsibility is the same. We express who God is in the world. What would people say about who God is based on your life?
I sensed the Lord asking me, “Justin, who do you think I am? How do you think I feel about you? What is my heart toward you like?”
Settling these questions in our hearts is critical to growth, because if we have an inaccurate understanding of God, we can’t actually know Him and become like Him.
What do you think God is like? How do you think God feels about you?
Here are some verses that only begin to crack the surface of understanding who God is and what He thinks of you.
Psalm 34:8, 1 John 4:10, Psalm 50:6, Psalm 86:15,Psalm 139:13-14, Psalm 17:8, Ephesians 2:10, 1 John 3:1, Galatians 5:22, 1 Corinthians 13, Romans 8:15-16
Challenge: This week, write down who you think God is and what God thinks of you. Compare that list to these verses. Ask the Lord to reveal Himself you, and may you grow this week in your understanding of (1) who God is and (2) His heart toward you!