God is Daddy.(?..!)

 Jesus revealed something to me as I spent some time with him this past Saturday, the morning of my friend's wedding. He began to put the pieces together for me. You see, for the past few months I have been getting this constant whisper about children being the prize of their parents. How every parent talks constantly about their child, no matter what age they are. About their accomplishments, about their travels, about their grades, about their teething. It doesn't matter what it is, they want to share it. They have pictures and stories they bring into every conversation, and rightly so. These are the human beings they have poured their life into. There's something in a parent that recognizes that their child is, well, their legacy when they are gone. I have never really understood this because I'm not a parent. But lately God keeps bringing this thought up and telling me to meditate on it and pay attention to it. And then, that morning He began to show me why.

He is like that with me. I am His child and He is proud to talk about me, think about me, share in my accomplishments, rejoice when I take my first spiritual step or smile when I conquer some obstacle in my life. In me is His legacy, He uses me to glorify Him. And then He brought it all together,

"Meg, I am going to begin to reveal myself to you in this season as 'Daddy'."

I honestly think this all came to a head this weekend. My friend who got married kept talking to her father and calling him daddy. Then Friday night as we were finishing up preparing the church for the wedding that would happen the next day. Michael, my friends fiance then and husband now, and a few of us began to pray before we left. He over and over again kept referring to God as 'Daddy' and called Him that in prayer. Afterwards in my journal I wrote the following,

"Lord, why am I so uncomfortable hearing that term for You? What about it makes me cringe or feel a sense of awkwardness? Have I not let You take that role in my life?"

And then I knew. I hadn't let Him be that for me yet. I don't even know what that would feel like or how that looks. Growing up, I didn't have a 'Daddy'.

And I realized that Jesus had already revealed so many parts of His character that were at the time radical for me to understand:

 Knight ---> Lover ---> Father ---> Daddy

Knight- When He rescued me and saved me. When I was a damsel in distress and He came along.

Lover-When He then began to woo me and relentlessly pursue me. When He called me beautiful.

Father-When He showed me He would protect me and could comfort me. That He can be trusted.

Daddy- And the new thing He wants to reveal about Himself. The new dynamic He wants to bring into our relationship...    

And really, hasn't this been in scripture all along?

In Romans 8:15 Paul tells us that we have "received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out Abba, Father."

The word “Abba” is an Aramaic word that would most closely be translated as “Daddy.” It was a common term that young children would use to address their fathers. It signifies the close intimate relationship of a father to his child, as well as the childlike trust that a young child puts in his “daddy.”

What a beautiful and radical thing this is, to have a God constantly revealing Himself to us in a myriad of ways and calling us out of one season into another. Jesus, reveal this part of yourself to me. I open up my heart to Your Holy Spirit and welcome you in. Do whatever it is You want to do in my heart, bring up wounds to heal, draw me into You, and make us closer together than we were before You whispered this word.

So, where on the spectrum are you with the Lord right now?
Is He your knight?
Is He your lover?
Is He your father?
Is he your Daddy?
...has He revealed a part of His character to you that is totally different than all of these?
Because He is all of these. And so much more.

And on that note, I'll try to not feel so awkward when I start to call you 'Daddy'.
Here goes nothing...

xoxo,
mp