The Father’s Love

The Father’s Love Heals the Land

The story of God is the story of a family; a Holy family that includes a Father and a Son.  It’s the story of the love of the triune God that abounds in such a way that they created people in their own image. It’s the story of how nothing can separate us from the love of the Father. The story of God is a story of how He rescues humanity from itself. It’s the story of how He adopts us; a people who were not a people until He made us His own. It’s a restoration story that ends with the Father reconciled to all of creation by His own sacrifice.

God is a Father from His Holy dwelling place in Heaven. He watches over His children, and He delights in this role, heavily emphasizing it throughout scripture. In Malachi 4:5-6, consider God's warning to those whose hearts are not turned toward children 

"Behold, I will send you Elijah... And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” Malachi‬ ‭4:5-6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Father cautions that a curse is put on the land where fathers have not turned their hearts to the children. In other words, when a generation of parents in a geographic region does not turn their hearts to their children, God sends correction to that land in the form of destruction. Could it be that the current problems in our land have to do with parents who haven’t embraced a generation of vulnerable children and as a result God is sending correction? 

This premise isn’t highly philosophical nor deeply complex; it's actually quite simple. Think about the troubled 17-year-old today who was only 7 a mere decade ago. That seven year old child probably suffered a lot of trauma due to varying factors such as poverty, abuse, social pressures, etc. Where was the Church in that child's life when he or she was seven?

Right now, the Lord by his Holy Spirit is calling the Church’s attention to turn our hearts to the children in the same way His heart is turned toward us. There is an invitation for us to partner with the Father's heart. We have the opportunity to express His adoptive love, the same love by which we call Him Abba Father, and in doing so, we’ll experience healing in our land.