The Father's Heart

How can we know God?

How can we find out what it is He has planned for us?

How do we discover His heart? How do we understand His love? How do we even know that He loves us?

These are questions that I'm sure most people have asked themselves, or others, at least once in their lifetime. We all have an innate desire to discover why we are here, and how we got here in the first place. We ask if there really is a God, and if there is, what is He like?

How do we go about answering these tough questions? Along with these questions comes a pleathora of others, such as, "If God does exist, why is there evil in the world?" Or, "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Why is there sickness? Why is there death?" As little as we know about God, we do have an understanding that if God were good, He would allow good things to happen.

Are there answers to these questions? Sure there are, but most of the time they are not answers we want to hear. However, I'm not writing this post to answer those questions. I'm writing this because today I thought about the life of Jesus, and the words He spoke while He walked this earth. If they are true, they have a profound impact on how we view who God is.

You see, Jesus claimed that He was sent by His Father, and He claimed that His Father was God. The God who created the universe and who created us. That's a pretty wild statement!

Along with His claims, He performed many miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, giving the blind sight, and allowing the deaf ears to hear. He had compassion on the poor, He loved children, and He fed the hungry. He spoke to people that most of us would never associate ourselves with, and hung out with prostitutes and thieves. He even provided mercy to a woman who was accused of adultery (a crime in that day that was punishable by death).

What does all this mean and how does it change how we view God?

Jesus said that He came not to do His will, but the will of His Father. He also said that if you have seen Him, you have seen the Father as well (John 14). Granted this does not settle the question of why there is suffering and evil in this world, but it does show us God's plan of redemption. His desire is that we be healed of sickness and be set free from things that hold us back from being all that we can be. His desire is that we be whole, physically and spiritually.

Although we witness heartache and disappointment and sickness in our lives, God's plan and heart is for us to allow Him to step into those very circumstances and bring redemption. He does not want us to suffer the consequences of sin in our lives: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

You see, we all deserve death. All of us!! But God's heart for us was so compelled by love that He could not stand the thought of us living in eternal punishment. So He stepped into the scene of history and of our lives. He revealed Himself to us through His Son Jesus Christ. In Christ we see who God really is. He is a compassionate Father, who desires to bring us restoration from all the consequences sin has had on our lives. What greater love is there?

The Father's heart is for us to be well. His heart is for us to be whole. His heart is to come to us, in our messed up, crazy world. He wants to give us the greatest gift that is available to all humankind: the gift of life.

Are you willing to believe?