God Takes Care Of His Kids
My mother lived the happiest childhood you can imagine. Her parents did not have many material possessions, but wealth isn’t always measured in money–wealth is measured in many ways. She was raised in a joyful home by a loving father and mother.
When she was nine years old, one day her father asked, “Ruthe, who do you love best, your mother or me?”
She replied, “My mother.”
He said, “Here, I have something for you, honey.” It was a very expensive wristwatch; her father wanted her to have the best. A father’s love overlooked that little child’s remark that she loved her mother the most. But that experience, through she felt badly about it, showed Ruthe the nature of a loving father.
“For this reason (seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ), I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named–(that Father) from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name” (Ephesians 3:14, 15, Amplified Version).
When someone speaks the word “father” each of us instantly has his own mental image of what a father is. We could add other words and adjectives until we have described our own father or what we think a father should be. Because we live in a world governed by the senses, we base our attitudes toward our heavenly Father upon our experiences of childhood. If we had a loving, kind father we have an accepting, respectful attitude toward God. If, however, our father was harsh, unkind, or perhaps abandoned us, we have feelings of fear, rejection and lack of trust. It is unfortunate that those who have been born into God’s heavenly family are not always taught that they have a loving Father-God.
The Scriptures give us insight into this perfect Father from whom all fatherhood takes its title:
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).
“If God be for us, who (can be) against us? Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?” (Romans 8:31, Amplified Version).
My mother grew up, married and raised children of her own. Then one day my grandfather was walking down the hall of an apartment building, sharing with Mother great things God had done in his life. He took off his hat and one glove, walked through the door of their apartment, and told Mother he was hungry. Instantly, he was absent from the body and present with the Lord. He just walked into eternity into the arms of Jesus.
In two weeks’ time my mother lost not only her father, but also her mother. Two weeks after that she was told she had been adopted. She was 45 years old when she found that out; it was traumatic and unbelievable. Knowing she had been adopted didn’t diminish her love for her parents, but it made her wonder. It also made her understand why she didn’t look like them and have the same characteristics. Because Mother couldn’t understand adoption, she had to seek the Lord as she tried to sort things out. Then one night she found this verse:
“But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4, 5).
Why, she was adopted by God before she was ever adopted by her father and mother! He sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts, crying, “Father, Father, Father!” That is why you need to pray in tongues. The more you pray in tongues, the more freedom the Holy Spirit has to speak to the Father through you. You must know what God’s Word says about you, and about the Father. Look at what Jesus says about the Father:
“…for the Father loves you himself, because you have loved me and believed that I came forth from God” (John 13:27, Moffatt Translation).
“If anyone loves me he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up our abode with him” (John 14:23, Moffatt Translation).
Jesus is introducing you to the Father God. He is saying that if you love the Father, He will come and make His abode with you. How would you like to have God move into your house? Then you wouldn’t need to be concerned because He would assure you that your rent is paid, your taxes are paid, all your bills are paid. He will enable you to meet every obligation of your life. How would you like that?
Perhaps by relating the Father God to the earthly father you have known, you think He is there to beat you up or crush you under foot. You might see Him only as the Old Testament God of thunder and lightning. But He wants you to see Him as the God of the New Testament, the God of mercy and grace.
Jesus said that He and the Father will come and make their home in Your heart, right inside you. They will live through you, making your life something beautiful and good. Your earthly father may have been the most wonderful man on earth, or he may have been a tremendous failure. But he is not God. We’re talking about your real Father. Jesus said:
“Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? For the Gentiles wish for and crave and diligently seek after all these things; and your heavenly Father well knows that you need them all. But seek for first of all His kingdom, and His righteousness, and then all these things taken together will be given to you besides” (Matthew 6:31-33, Amplified Version).
Most of us have been taught to fear and shrink away from a God of justice, but the Father cares for His own. And if God is your Father, then you can be assured He will take a Father’s place and fulfill a Father’s role.
Let me share with you how this worked in the life of my brother and sister-in-law. Sam was 40 years old when he finally decided to answer the call God had placed on his life. When he came back into fellowship with the Lord he said, “But I don’t want to go to Bible school, Lord.” His wife felt the same way. She liked the security and the home they had. They have three teenage sons. But my brother kept hearing the word, “If you love Me, follow Me.” So they sold their house and took their boys and a U-Haul trailer from Quincy, Illinois, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to enroll at Rhema Bible Training Center. They began to study the Word of God and experience what it meant to really live by faith. Toward the end of school the Lord began to deal with Sam about becoming a pastor, and he felt impressed that he should go to Sweetwater, Texas. He had ministered there on a weekend, but the church had not called him. When Sam was asked what he was going to do, he said, “I’m going to Sweetwater.” If people asked, “Did the church call you?” he said, “No, but I’m going to Sweetwater.” He had that word in his heart.
Was Sam just saying something because he wanted it to come to pass, or was he saying what he heard God say to him on the inside? There is quite a difference in the two. We all believed God, but it came down to the last week before they had to move out of their house, and still no call. I was down at our lake cabin that week praying about Sam. The Lord spoke to my spirit, “I want you to call your brother and tell him they can move into your house in Dallas and you will live down at the lake this summer.”
I thought, “It’s a long drive into town and this is a real tiny cabin. I sure like my house–this just couldn’t be God.” But I told the Lord I would call Sam the next morning. Secretly, I was thinking maybe I would forget the Lord had told me to do it!
The next morning I said, “Alright, I’ll do it.” I dialed and my sister-in-law answered. I didn’t expect her to answer. I said, “Donna, the Lord has dealt with me that I should call and tell you that our house is your house as long as you need it–as long as you want it.”
Silence. Then sniffles on the other end of the line. Obvious tears and sobs. She is a very shy and reserved person. Finally, she said, “Thank you, Vicki.”
My brother told me later that the night before he was being tested in his faith. Donna was now without a visible place to go, and a home had always been important to her as it is to most women. By this time their house had been rented and they had no place to go. Sam was packing the truck, still saying, “We’re going to Sweetwater.” Donna began to cry. Sam told her, “Donna, let’s pray.” He took her hands and prayed, “God, reveal Yourself as the loving Father You are to Donna. Show her that You will provide a home for her no matter what happens. Father, reveal Yourself to her in the power of Your Word. Thank you, Father, that we know when we pray, You hear us and answer us. Amen.” That was the same Wednesday night God told me to call her, and I didn’t do it. Thursday morning when I called it was like the Father saying, “Donna, you asked me for a house, and I want you to know there is always going to be a house and it will be beautiful, not just a beat-up old house. It is there any time you need it.”
Don’t you think she knew she was a child of the King? You may need that assurance yourself right now. You are a child of the Father God, your King. But you have to believe Him and trust in Him.
That evening the telephone rang. The voice on the other end of the line said, “Pastor Smith, this is Sweetwater calling.” They didn’t have to use our house. God gave them a beautiful home in Sweetwater. He knew what was going to happen, but He knew Donna had to have faith to get over that hump. Remember, Matthew 6:8 says, “…for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
When we are born again, we receive the life and nature of God the Father. His nature makes us righteous. All who receive His nature come into His family and are recognized as sons and daughters of the great Father God. And in this family, everyone has equal rights!
“Casting the whole of your care–all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all–on Him; for He cares for you affectionately, and cares about you watchfully” (I Peter 5:7, Amplified Version).