Papa

As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
Psalm 103:13

God is Father.  He is the perfect Father.  Loving, kind, wise, gentle, fair, honest, dependable, strong.  He is all that a father should be. Father is the Christian name for God.  

But perhaps your earthly father was not a loving father.  Maybe he was absent or preoccupied or angry or even abusive.  The writer George MacDonald, who was such a big influence on C.S. Lewis, offered wise counsel in his book Unspoken Sermons: 

In my own childhood and boyhood my father was the refuge from all the ills of life, even sharp pain itself.  Therefore I say to son or daughter who has no pleasure in the name Father, “You must interpret the word by all that you have missed in life.  All that human tenderness can give or desire in the nearness and readiness of love, all and infinitely more must be true of the perfect Father – of the maker of fatherhood.”  

To see God as Father means so much.  It means you see God as loving you deeply, tenderly and fiercely, committed to your highest welfare.  

It means you see him as strong and powerful.  He can take care of you, rescue you, protect you, provide for you.  

It means you see him as wise.  He knows what is best for you.  He understands you completely.  There is no wiser parent anywhere.  

It means you are never confused about who you are.  You are a child of Father, a child of Papa.  Much loved.  Joyfully adopted.  Completely accepted.  Delighted in.  

That’s who you are!