All throughout scripture God refers to Himself as a good Father, but for the majority of my life I pictured Him as everything but that. It was easier to characterize Him as a father who punishes and exhorts anger. It was easier to think of Him as someone who would allow me to suffer horribly and orchestrate chaos in order for me to learn some kind of deep spiritual lesson. I thought of Him as a father who would ultimately fail to protect me and who would not really have the best in mind for me. I saw Him as a father who controls, manipulates and exploits. For the majority of my life I expected Him to become​ a father figure who I must be feared. And ultimately the expectation of my heart was that He would fail me in a horrible way... that when push came the shove, He would never pitch up.

It was easy for me to fear Him. To honor & to love Him came easily, however, it was not easy to picture the love that He had for me. I could wholeheartedly worship, lay hands on the sick, listen to every sermon I could get my hands on, submit and serve in His house and do everything He would expect of me, but I always ensured I had a safety net or plan B in store incase God didn't show. I was the keeper of my heart and I was the one who would keep myself safe. It was all good and well because I never really relied on God in the first place.

The strange thing is that for the majority of us this is not a foreign concept. We live in an era referred to as "the fatherless generation" and we huddle up together, orphans in a row, and expect ourselves to have a clear concept of what God the Father looks like. We bluff ourselves​ into thinking we have given ourselves over to God but somewhere deep inside our heart we find a little child scared of a Father figure that would chicken out of commitment. We fear a punisher, a tyrant or a Father who would abandon us. Every day we wake up to dance to the rhythm of some Christian-to-do-list and secretly believe we are not good enough for God or that somehow He would give up on us like most parents and loved ones do. "She's a lost case," they whisper. Deep in the roots of our hearts we fear the day others will see us the way we truly see ourselves - someone who will not match the pretty picture of how a child of God is supposed to look like. Someone who will not make the cut.

We are a people who are terribly hurt, horribly abandoned, and deeply scarred.
We harbor fears and sorrow that manifest in our walk with God. We allow our fears and misconceptions​ to represent God when He existed long before chaos and sorrow ever did. We allow our upbringing to reflect on His character and flawed people to represent His case. We are deeply misguided and terribly deceived.
I believe the first step that needs to be taken in order to connect with the heart of the Father is to realize that He truly is a good, good Father. We see this boldly demonstrated in John 3:16 when the author writes, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” An angry manipulative father would not take the time to bend down, to listen, to bless and to heal whatever broken appears in His path.

An angry manipulative person would demand the sacrifice and not simply become it for someone else’s sake. In Genesis 6:5 we read, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of his heart was evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” God did not reinforce his regret but rather perfected grace by giving a piece of himself in order to restore us back to his own heart. He sent his Son whom he loved to be crucified on a cross for the sake of a people who spit in his face. If that is not the image of a father who loves, I do not know what is.
He is good, and ultimately He is good to us.

A scriptural revelation that is near my own heart is found in the book of Malachi, chapter 3, verse 6, “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
What’s so significant for me in this verse is its scriptural placement.
The timespan between Genesis to Malachi is approximately over one-thousand years from 1446 BC – 430 B.C. We read throughout the 39 books found within the pages of the Old Testament how the Israelites struggled to overcome the curse of sin over and over again. Yet still at the end of this, God significantly and strategically states, “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Genesis 6:5
And what does he not change from? His stellar plan to rescue mankind from their own foolish desires. And why are we not consumed? God did not change his rescue mission. He makes a promise to the serpent and the woman, Eve, in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Already in Genesis did God reveal His beautiful plan of salvation for mankind. Out of Eve’s bloodline was the Savior of mankind. God put enmity between the serpent and the woman’s offspring.

We will only be liberated from our misconceptions when we confront them with the truth that is Jesus Christ and His character that was laid before the foundations of the earth.
God was not shaped by the character of your father nor is He dictated by the decisions of your mother. To Moses He said, "I AM," [Exodus 3:14] and to the Israelites He said, "I change not." [Malachi 3:6]
He is who He says He is and He says you are altogether beautiful​, there is no flaw in you. [Songs of Solomon 4:7]
The best way to overcome the lies we've submitted ourselves to is to confront them and replace them with truth. And what is truth? Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me." [John 14:6]
We will not discover God the Father by our own perceptions and ideas. We will only fully get to know Him when we enter through the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Only then will we be able to see God through the clear window of the ultimate love sacrifice. That is when the image of the Father is revealed to us; by knowing Him through His great and glorious love offering.
We need to come to the point where we realize that this world cannot represent God simply because 1 James 5:19 clearly states that God is not in control of this world but it is governed and guided by the Evil One. God cannot represent a world He does not govern.
God is not shaped by our experiences or influenced by human nature. He is who He says He is and He does not change.
The image of God the Father is not a father who leaves, a mother who disappoints or a loved one who abandons us.
It is the image of a Father standing open arms, heart open wide, not ever saying "I told you so," or pointing a finger. He bestows on us more than we could ever deserve. He blesses, He restores and He redeems. He never gives up, never rejects and never changes His mind about us. He doesn't push us, or preach to us but rather encourages us to become the best version of ourselves. He continually loves us back to life and bestows on us His loving kindness, acceptance and forgiveness. He never whispers we are not enough, but even in our filth and defilement He offers His pure and righteous Son for our ransom.
He loves us with a love that scares the darkness away. He fights fiercely and voraciously for our undeserving victory and freedom. He longs for us to walk victorious and to be free from the fears that hinder our growth. He is ultimately and wholly good. He is with us and He is for us. He is the defender of our heart & He comforts us with a promise that says, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!” [Hebrews 13:5 AMP]
He is the Father that could never be introduced to us by a man and that could never be reduced to the image of mankind.
He has loved you with an everlasting love & He has drawn you with unfailing kindness. Before He formed you in your mother’s womb, He knew you and chose you before the foundations of the earth. You are His.

Ezekiel 16:4
"And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing, nor were you rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out in the open field, for you were loathed on the day that you were born.
“When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your [newborn] blood, I said to you while you were there in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were there in your blood, ‘Live!’ I made you (Israel) multiply like plants [which grow] in the field, and you grew up and became tall and you reached the age for [wearing] fine jewelry; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare.
“Then I passed by you [again] and looked on you; behold, you were maturing and at the time for love, and I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore [an oath] to you and entered into a covenant with you,” says the Lord God, “and you became Mine.” “Then I washed you with water; yes, I [thoroughly] washed away from you the [clinging] blood and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments and I put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was [made] of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil; so you were extremely beautiful and you advanced and prospered into royalty. Then your fame went out among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My majesty and splendor which I bestowed on you,” says the Lord God.