Yesterday evening, I had the great pleausre of hearing one of my spiritual heroes, Lou Engle, preach. The message was incredible and many lives, mine included, were changed because of the presence of God that fell our time together. But this posting is not about the core of that message, though I'm sure at a latter date there will be one. This is about a statement he made that was pretty isolated against the backdrop of his major topic.
"The role of the father [biological or otherwise] is to call forth destiny."
Wow. I have to admit, I've never thought about it like that. What an awesome responsibility fathers have! And yet, I can't help but think of how many blow it. That might be pretty blunt, but it's also pretty true. There are not a lot of things I agree with Dr. Phil on (ok...at the moment I can think of one) but one of his catchprases regarding children is that we, as parents (or other important individuals for that matter) "write on the slate of who they are."
What are we writing?
I have literally seen/heard fathers tell their children that they are stupid, that they are screw ups; I've seen men demean and ridicule their children in the presence of other people. I can't help but wonder what that does to those children - the sons especially. I'd imagine it makes them feel worthless, useless, stupid and a myriad of other emotions. What kind of destiny do those fathers call into their children? Likely one that says, "you never were anything and you'll never be anything....you are a mistake."
I'm not saying that's what the fathers intend to speak into existance, but very often it happens. Words are powerful. They can lift you up or cut you down. And a simple "I'm sorry" doesn't always fix it....sometimes, a simple "I'm sorry" isn't offered either.
One of my favorite passages of scripture is Genesis 1:27 that tells us that we were made "in the image of God." Those are pretty powerful words as well! When we think of God - the one true Christian God, mind you - the first word that should come to mind is love. Over and over we read and hear those words. God is love. 1 Chorinthians 13 gives a pretty complete picture of what love looks like. What destiny would kindness call forth? What destiny would not easily angered call forth? How about not rude? Or patience?
Why ask all these questions? Simple. The answer to that can be found in Matthew 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray, Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name."
Our Father
God is our Father. Galatians 4:6 says, "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father.'" Similarly, Romans 8:15-16 says, "For you did not recieve a spirit that makes you a slave to fear, but you recieved the spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, 'Abba, Father'. The Spirit Himself testifies with our Spirit that we are God's children."
We are God's children.
So, to you who have maybe had a false destiny written on the slate of your hearts, remember that you were made in the image of your Heavenly Daddy. His fingerprints are on your DNA. You look like Him. So when you want to know what your destiny is or what your future looks like, go to the One who wrote the story in the first place. God does not make mistakes. If you are here, than there is a divine reason for it.
The role of your Father is to call forth your destiny. Your destiny is waiting for you. My challenge to you today is to spend some time letting your Heavenly Daddy speak into you and find out just what that destiny is.
And to the special someone who inspired this blog (and any other special someones who might need the reminder), remember always that you are not what your father has spoken over you. You were made in the image of the King of Kings. You were crafted with thought and precision. You were made with purpose and intent. You are not a failure. You are not a screw up. Give God permission to erase the words that have broken you for so long and write new words of love and affirmation on your heart. When the Daddy that matters sees you, He smiles. God smiles because when He finished making you, even knowing that you would have human flaws, He looked at you and said, the same thing He said when He made the rest of creation....
"It is good."
~Mo
