It caught me off guard. Maybe it was because they were the few words that I understood out of the mass of Portuguese, or maybe I stopped trying to understand because those jumped out at me. “Good Father.” I know that to be true. He has shown me in so many ways His care for me and His mercy to me. But, there are still times that I forget. I think I am missing something. I think that things should be different. I think I know better.

When we come before God in prayer, so often it is with high sounding words. Almighty and Everlasting God… Omnipotent and Holy One… Lord of Hosts… Alpha and Omega… Risen Son… The Bright and Morning Star… Gracious and Merciful… Lord of Heaven and Earth…  All these titles are right and true, and it is so important to see God as such.

But He is also my Glory and the Lifter of my head (Psalm 3:3) And when I lift my eyes and see Him, I realize that He is also my Bom Pai. My Good Father. When I come to Him as such, I can trust that the things that I leave in His hands are well taken care of.

Photo by Derek Thomson on Unsplash

Heidelberg Catechism Question 1:

1. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
   • That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

Phoebe looks at me sometimes and I just want to eat her up. She is so adorable and has the longest eyelashes you have ever seen. Seriously… I have to trim them or they get too long. But to get to my point, she looks at me like her life depended on it. And in reality, it does. She is completely dependent on me for her food, cleanliness, safety, security, environment, everything. There is nothing that she needs that she can do for herself. She trusts me to care for her and to be the provider of all good things.

But she doesn’t. She doesn’t trust me to protect her. She thinks it is her job to alert me to every potential evil… like cardboard boxes, and mailmen, and the wind rattling the screen door, and, heaven forbid, the occasional visitor. She barks and barks and barks. Why doesn’t she trust me? I don’t know. I’m still figuring that one out, but it has made me think about my own trust issues. There is One upon whom I am completely dependent, for my food, cleanliness, safety, security, environment and everything else. He is Abba, Sovereign Creator and Sustainer. All good things come from Him. He knows what is best for me and for those that I care about. Why do I get stressed and frustrated and worked up into a frenzy because of the circumstances around me?

Father God, the better I know you, the more I will trust your protection and guidance. Help me not act out of fear and confusion but to settle into a place of trust and wisdom.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust.” Psalm 56: 3-4