Honest Christian Conversations
A weekly podcast dealing with cultural and spiritual issues within the Christian faith.
Honest Christian Conversations
God Is Not Your Earthly Father, So Stop Treating Him Like He Is (MINISODE)
After interviewing Denise G. Lee about her journey through sexual abuse and addiction, I couldn't stop reflecting on one powerful realization she shared.
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Welcome back to another mini-sode. Friends, how's your week been? I wanted to talk today about a sensitive topic that was discussed during this last episode with Denise G Lee. I don't know if you had a chance to listen to it yet. We discussed her sexual abuse and how that led her into an addiction of sexual content. Perhaps you haven't struggled with that kind of addiction, but I'm sure something in her story resonated with you.
Speaker 1:I resonated with the whole thing. I just felt like she was a kindred spirit, I guess, but I really wanted to discuss the topic of remembering that God is not like our parents. He is our heavenly Father, but he is not like our earthly parents. Something Denise mentioned in telling of her story how her parents were. Her father was neglectful and her mother sexually abused her until she was 11.
Speaker 1:Later in the interview she talked about how she had an angry relationship with God and she mentioned that at one point she just realized that God is not like her earthly parents. And that's what we all need to remember is that God is not like our earthly parents. He isn't due fallible things. He's not out to get us. He's not there to punish us. He's there to discipline us, but it's loving discipline and it's necessary to help us grow and be the best versions of ourselves. So I don't know who needs to hear this today, but God is not like your earthly father. God is not like your earthly mother, your earthly grandparents, whoever raised you. God created them, but he is not them.
Speaker 1:You can let go of your bitterness and anger towards God for how his people treat you, for how people in general treat you. Perhaps you were burned by the church, someone in it. That is not God and it is not his fault. People are fallible, we are selfish, we can be depraved at times and we can just not think before we act. But that is not God. He is very thoughtful, is not God? He is very thoughtful, he is very honest. He is a righteous judge, a good, good father, a loving father. His love is steadfast and strong. He cares for you. He cares for me, so much so that he sent Jesus to die on the cross for us in the midst of our sins. We weren't even born yet. Everybody who's listening to this? We weren't born yet and yet God still sent Jesus and Jesus still willfully went to the cross to die because he knew how much the Father loved us.
Speaker 1:Does that sound like the broken parent, grandparent, guardian, whatever that you had growing up? Does that sound like the leader of your church who may have hurt you? It doesn't sound like that to me and I know for a time I also had issues with how I saw God and I'm still working through those. It's an ongoing thing. It's not like it's just going to magically switch off and one day you're no longer going to think of God that way. But you have to retrain your brain daily and your heart to trust God, to allow him in, so that you can heal. You can't be bitter and angry. You have to know Jehovah Jireh, your healer. You have to know your Abba, father, and that he loves you and he's there waiting. He has his hand stretched out to you, waiting for you to take it so that he can help you out of whatever mess you're in, whether you got yourself into it or you fell into it through unfortunate circumstances.
Speaker 1:So my challenge for you this week is to let go of your pride, that you have your hubris. As Denise mentioned in the episode, the difference between pride and hubris. If you aren't sure what that is, go back and listen to the episode, but lay down your hubris, that kind of pride. Lay it down and allow God to work in you. Don't think that you have God pegged because you don't. Nobody does. Allow him to show you who he is. Read his word. Ask him to send the Holy Spirit and to allow the Holy Spirit to transform you and show you the difference between a healthy, healthy love, because if you had an upbringing anything close to what Denise went through, or just any upbringing at all, human experience, even if it was a really good one, it still pales in comparison to the love, the unconditional, perfect love of our Heavenly Father. So, whatever you went through in your past, whatever you're going through now, lay down your hubris and allow God to transform you. I hope this encouraged you today. God bless, talk to you next time.
