I AM My Father’s Daughter

Over the years people have often asked me why I call “God” …Father. I will answer that question for you here.

Years ago, I was driving down Frame Road coming home from the store. An incident in time I will never forget. As usual, I was talking to Father…but at that time, I called Him “God.”

He interrupted my side of our conversation and He said…so very clearly, with irritation in His voice, “stop calling me God. God is NOT MY NAME.”

WHOA!!!!!!! I remember the exact location on the road when I heard those words, I nearly drove off in the ditch. Wowser bowser man!!! I was stunned speechless for just a few. 😳

Then I asked…”What do you want me to call you then, for I have been calling you “God” all my life?”

He said…very very sweetly…” YOU can call me Father.” 🥰

I Asked Why

I started calling Him Father…but then I am wondering…why.

Why did He want me to call Him Father?

Why did He choose that title over all the other titles of who He is?

I started asking Him that question. He didn’t answer me at that time and when He did answer that question…it wasn’t direct. It was an indirect answer like how He often speaks to me. He goes the long way around to explain it to me. Sometimes…I just want a straight line. A direct answer. Let’s just get there. Sometimes though, He will marinate you as the meat. Let you sit in it and soak up all the truth experientially. This is what He did to me regarding my question. Why Father? Why do you want me to call you Father?

Long Story Short

I had daddy issues. I started hating my earthly father at the age of ten. Lots of reasons for that. As this site progresses, those will be revealed over time. For a number of years, I had no relationship with my natural dad. When I entered the betrothal covenant with Christ, one of the first items on my list to clean up was…forgiving my dad. I did…that story to come later. Fast forward a number of years…it was time to initiate a relationship with him. I obeyed. We slowly started to build. Together, as father and daughter, we built something healthy and beautiful.

One morning I was having a conversation with Father, and He said to me…I want you to call your dad and share a few things with him. Even though I had no clue why I was sharing those things with my dad…I obeyed. My dad’s response to me…brought another layer of healing to the heart wounds he had inflicted me with as a child. It was such a beautiful conversation for me.

The Answer…

Later as I was reflecting on it, I realized…I had already been given the answer to my question…why call Him Father.

Every single time I said…Father…

Father I need…

Father help me…

Father answer me this…

I was like a child going to her father. I was seeking Him for my needs…to fix my boo-boos when people lashed out at me. Etc. I was going to Him…like a humble little child and as I called Him Father…it was healing my heart of my daddy issues with my earthly father.

I was coming to understand experientially in my heart and mind that Father…was my Father. Where my earthly father failed…my heavenly Father succeeded. My heavenly Father met ALL my needs. Why? Because He loved me…as a Father should love His child. When an earthly father fails to love his child…our heavenly Father is still there…loving that child. It is His child.

Calling Him Father brought incredible healing to me over the years and has taught me much truth about men as fathers…and Him…as Father.

I have experiential knowledge of fathers who operate out of the flesh…and Him as Father who operates out of the Spirit. His Spirit. The difference…is night and day. Dark and light. Evil and good. No comparison between the two.

There is much gratitude in my heart for the title “Father.” It is a term of great endearment for me.

Something for You to Consider

Something I noted when He spoke to me in words of irritation…stop calling me “God” …people have names. Some like their names but some don’t. I once knew a woman who had been given a nickname. She hated it…yet, for years…that was all anybody called her. Just a shortened version of her full first name. She confided in me she had never given anyone permission to call her by her shortened name. I was stunned. I reflected on how inconsiderate man is. We ASSUME it is perfectly fine to call someone by a different name than their birth name…just because others are doing it.

It is the same with Father. Man calls Him God, Papa God, Papa, Daddy, Daddy God, etc. without considering His feelings on the matter of how man should address Him. We have assumed He is pleased with those titles…leaning on our own fleshly understanding. This mindset is foolish. It is about the heart…the attitude of your heart as you speak to Him and about Him. It is about honor, respect, reverence, humility, etc. If we say we love Him…and we are in a relationship with Him…as our Father…shouldn’t we ask Him what He wants us to call Him? Isn’t that being considerate? Respectful? Loving? Kind? I think so. Not something I had considered all those years ago when He corrected me. I was ready. It was time. I could handle that correction.

Homework

I would encourage you to ask Father…what He wants you to call Him and let Him direct your relationship in the WAY it should go.

** NOTE…The picture above was taken in 2019 by my dad’s wife after a funeral of a beloved family member.

My earthly father has passed on, He is now with our Father. Our journey of healing…is beyond beautiful for it was directed by Father. He brought healing to my heart and my dad’s heart. I am including the eulogy I spoke at my dad’s memorial service. I hope if you listen to our story…it will bring encouragement to you. Father has the power to create something beautiful out of the ashes. He did that for me…in my life…in many places. 🥰