Daddy Lift Me Up Part 1

Ezekiel 16:4-14, The Message"On the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, you weren't bathed and cleaned up, you weren't rubbed with salt, you weren't wrapped in a baby blanket. No one cared a fig for you. No one did one thing to care for you tenderly in these ways. You were thrown out into a vacant lot and left there, dirty and unwashed—a newborn nobody wanted. And then I came by. I saw you all miserable and bloody. Yes, I said to you, lying there helpless and filthy, "Live! Grow up like a plant in the field!" And you did. You grew up. You grew tall and matured as a woman, full-breasted, with flowing hair. But you were naked and vulnerable, fragile and exposed. I came by again and saw you, saw that you were ready for love and a lover. I took care of you, dressed you and protected you. I promised you my love and entered the covenant of marriage with you. I, God, the Master, gave my word. You became mine. I gave you a good bath, washing off all that old blood, and anointed you with aromatic oils. I dressed you in a colorful gown and put leather sandals on your feet. I gave you linen blouses and a fashionable wardrobe of expensive clothing. I adorned you with jewelry: I placed bracelets on your wrists, fitted you out with a necklace, emerald rings, sapphire earrings, and a diamond tiara. You were provided with everything precious and beautiful: with exquisite clothes and elegant food, garnished with honey and oil. You were absolutely stunning. You were a queen! You became world-famous, a legendary beauty brought to perfection by my adornments. Decree of God, the Master. "

I don't know anyone who can't relate to this in some way. That we have all come from places that weren't pretty. Very rarely does God find us on our best days. Very rarely do we need someone to save us when things are good. I know that God found me on the darkest days of my life. Usually face down in the dirt hurting over yet another attempt to fill the void within.

As I write this I have numerous friends and family struggling to find health in their fathers. Circumstances happen and life gets out of control but what we all want and need is to be protected and cared for. There is a need so deep, so vast, abyss-like that we try to fill with our earthly fathers. We start out as sweet little daddy girls. He is our hero, our defender, our provider and our stronghold. We find strength in smelling his after shave. We giggle as he rubs our cheeks with his whiskers - they tickle and scratch at the same time. They curl up on the couch with us and explain to us their passions whether it be flying, hiking or football. They pour into us in such a real way.

Not all Daddy's are there, not all Daddy's protect, not all Daddy's provide, there are even Daddy's out there that don't know their children at all, they don't know the giggles of their own children. There are Daddy's out there that are the molesters of their own children, that use their children as their punching bags, that have no love whatsoever for the little people that look up to him with eyes of expectation. Eyes that question if Daddy is going to love me today.

Yet the truth of the matter is, the abyss remains. The greatest of all earthly father's can not fill it.

My mentor always says it's a bucket of need that can only humanly be filled one teaspoon at a time. We look for other ways to fill the abyss. We have sex, we form addictions, we get married, we have kids of our own, strive for great careers, eat, don't eat, cut, hurt others, something anything to fill that void so deep that we can't describe it or define it we just know that it is there. This isn't just about women and being Daddy's Girl, this is universal. My father loves me whole heartily to the best of his ability. His father before him, well Lord rest his soul, he walked out on my Daddy when he was 5. But, when I go back one more generation, my grandfather was on his own at 8 because his father had a new wife. How in the world was my Daddy supposed to learn to be a "father"?

I tell my children often, "If I was perfect, you wouldn't need God". If I had it within me to fill their abyss, I would. I know that in my heart. I would pour into them everything that I possibly could to fill that whole that even exists in their little lives. My husband, he is a Father. He dedicates his time to his own kids, and it doesn't stop there he does it for other kids, whose Daddy's aren't interested. His free time is spent hiking and camping with boys. Teaching them to be men. Teaching them, by example how to be fathers. Does it fill the bucket? Is their abyss any smaller because of his efforts? No, but he can give them one teaspoon at a time. What if that is the only teaspoon they get that day?

What if we could find an overflowing resource? What if we could find a source? Sit under a waterfall and have that hollow place filled to overflowing? Where can we find it?

Galatians 4:6, "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba,Father."