by Louie Giglio
If that’s the case, it might actually be hard for you to feel confident about having the basics in life. But the perfect Father doesn’t want you living with a scarcity mentality; constantly worrying about whether you’ll have what you need. The key to transforming our thoughts about “father” is found in the phrase that Jesus used in the passage about the snakes and rocks. Look closely at three important words: how much more . Notice, “How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”
That’s Jesus saying, look, in the normal course of life, earthly fathers typically know how to meet their children’s needs. And on most occasions, parents will do this, even though the good ones sometimes mess up, and the bad ones blast the picture all to smithereens. Yet your heavenly Father will meet needs and “how much more!” The invitation is to see the heavenly Father as the perfect provider. Remember, He’s not the reflection of your earthly dad. He’s the perfection of fatherhood.
When we start soaking in the truth that God is a flawless Father, not a busted up earthly father, then without a doubt we can trust our heavenly Father. He doesn’t sin. He doesn’t make mistakes. God our heavenly Father cares for us perfectly. He calls us “children of God” and “lavishes” His love upon us, and “how much more” will He provide for us. His motives are always pure, His actions are always flawless, and His intentions are always good toward us.
A Flawless Record
Looking at what He has done in the past helps us know that we can depend on Him in the future. Once He fed thousands with a snack from a kid in the crowd. He took the five small loaves of bread and two tiny fish in His hands, offered thanks and proceeded to break them again and again until everyone had more than enough. For good measure there were twelve baskets full leftover. Did Jesus miscount? Nope. He did this to show you that your Father is a God of abundance, not scarcity. And that He wants you to take on a generosity mentality that helps you see beyond your own needs to the needs of others.
Another time, Jesus was at a wedding when the wine ran out and the host started to panic. Jesus told the servants to fill large pots with water; then He turned the water into wine. And not just any kind of wine! The guests were amazed that their host had saved the best for last . When the party is winding down, who comes through with the best you can offer? The Father who provides.
Every day of my life growing up we had a roof over our heads, and though we were definitely lower middle class, we had everything we needed. Both Mom and Dad worked most all those years to make sure we didn’t go without. But there wasn’t anything extravagant in the equation, and it wasn’t until I was in college that we moved into a real house (a townhouse), with a second floor and a legitimate front door and foyer. We pretty much lived paycheck-to-paycheck without a lot of margin, and it was unlike Dad to take out a loan from the credit union at his work to cover the bigger ticket items like a new “used” car or a wedding.
That may sometimes be our situation in our human family, but when it comes to your new family tree, a son or daughter of the King never has to just scrape by. Your soul is provided for lavishly, and God feeds and clothes your spirit with abundance. After all, you’re a child of the King. Wait a minute—wonderful for our souls —but what about our bodies ? They too have needs, and there are certainly times when Christians live in less than abundant circumstances, even in poverty, even in starvation. Does God care about those human needs?
Let’s be clear, God doesn’t live paycheck-to-paycheck because He doesn’t get paid. Who would pay Him anyway? He already owns everything there is to own. And He’s committed to His children. So, you don’t have to hoard your goods, and you don’t have to worry about tomorrow. Notice what Jesus said:
“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matt. 6:25–27)
This is clearly about human, material needs. And notice how Jesus turns this promise toward you with this question—”Are you not much more valuable than they?” Again, He’s not waiting for an answer. Jesus is making a declaration. The perfect Father may not give you everything you want, right when you want it. But He’s not going to leave you hanging. There will never be a gravestone to mark His death (they tried that at the Garden Tomb, but death couldn’t keep Jesus in the grave!). He’s never going to be too busy at work to care about you, or too weak or unmotivated or too broken down to notice you and step in to provide all you need. Even the very human troubles of poverty, cancer, divorce, and the like, can never touch us without being first filtered through His love, for His good purposes. Then we find out our troubles are not “rocks” or “snakes,” but blessings in disguise. The perfect Father is loving and good, and in control.
And He is going to make certain you have everything you need, even if your need is to experience a time of want so that you can draw closer to Him.
The Perfect Father Is Able
Many of us who grew up learning about Jesus have heard about this guy named Zacchaeus. Some of you instantly might be singing in your head, Zacchaeus was a wee little man. The story goes like this: As Jesus was passing through a certain town, a great crowd lined the streets to get a look at Him. Jesus had been doing miracles from place to place, and His reputation preceded Him. The problem was that Zacchaeus was a short little dude and couldn’t see over the crowd. Not to worry, he shimmied up a nearby tree and actually had the best view of all as Jesus passed by. Shockingly, Jesus stopped right in front of that tree and called Zacchaeus by name. Then Jesus did something unusual—He invited Himself to stay at Zacchaeus’s house.
Hey Zacchaeus, how’s it going? Jesus called. Come down quick. I’m staying at your place tonight! The crowd froze in disbelief.
They didn’t freeze because Jesus was being a little forward in inviting Himself to this man’s house, but because they knew Zacchaeus was the chief taxman in town. Not only did he work for the authorities, he was getting filthy rich by taking a cut of the tax he was charging. All those standing along the road stared in stunned silence. Ummm. I think You picked the wrong guy, Jesus, they murmured under their breath. This guy’s a cheat, the worst sinner in town!
He Knows Your Name
What does this story have to say about God being able? One simple thing it shows us is that God knew Zacchaeus by name. God’s memory never fails, and He’s never had to lean over to an angel to ask, Who’s that tall girl over there with the sunglasses? The perfect Father has a quick mind and a memory better than an elephant.
the perfect father is closer than a phone call away.
Recently, researchers at York University have found that our brains can remember ten thousand faces over the course of a lifetime. The average person, the study discovered, can recall around five thousand, but, the scientists say, that doesn’t mean we’ll always remember their names. 8 Man, that’s a relief. I’m pretty sure I can’t remember five thousand people by name! But the perfect Father can. He knows the name of every person He’s created and their exact location on planet Earth every instant.
It’s possible your earthly father has seemed to forget about you. But, not the perfect, faultless Father. Jesus didn’t need advanced prep from His team on the name of the little tax guy. He could have named every person in town. And He didn’t need directions to Zacchaeus’s house, or anyone else’s.
On another occasion Jesus sat down by a well to rest while His disciples went into the town ahead to get something to eat. Soon, He was in conversation with a lady that led to an extraordinary offer. He promised her the hope of living water that would satisfy the deep thirst in her soul. The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water” (John 4:15), not fully
understanding what Jesus was trying to say. He told her to go get her husband and then He’d give her the “living water.”
“I don’t have a husband,” she told Him.
Jesus didn’t fall for it. Why? Because He’s able, which means in this case, that He knows everything about us. He knew her name just like He knew Zacchaeus’s name. And He also knew that when it came to marriage, she’d struck out five times and she and the guy she was living with weren’t married.
Uh-oh. This guy has been reading my mail , she thought. She decided He must be a prophet, but Jesus was even more. He was God in human flesh, a reflection of the perfect Father. He knows who you are and understands everything about what you do.
Jesus Can Relate
But we see something else about the perfect Father in this woman’s story as well as in the story of Zacchaeus: God is comfortable in the real world. He’s not afraid to mix it up with anyone and everyone. Jesus invited Himself to the house of a tax accountant, a numbers guy.
Really? What would they possibly talk about? How could Jesus hold His own? Wouldn’t Jesus be better off sticking with Bible trivia? What would Jesus know about income tax credits, the accrual basis of accounting, limited liability companies, or short-term capital gains? Shouldn’t He stay in the spiritual zone?
Nope. He’s well read, super-current, and fully up to speed on your situation.
And what’s with this ability of His to know all about messy marriage situations?
An incredible thing about this perfect Father God—and an underappreciated benefit for many people who claim to follow Him—He knows everything about everything. He’s just as comfortable talking to you about British baking, building a rocket, breaking par on the golf course, binary math, baby strollers, bipartisan legislation, or bipolar symptoms, as He is reciting the books of the Bible. He’s down with graphic art, micro-business, crop management, knitting (even the loop stitch), supply-side economics, bioethics, urban design, bird migration, shiplap renovation, or whatever currently occupies your thinking.
You don’t need to inform God of anything or teach Him how to operate the remote or post on social media. He is well able on His own. But more, He’s interested in you and whatever you are passionate about. That’s not to say He’s eager to condone whatever you’re producing or the way you’re going about your work. But if you have a passion for architecture or artificial intelligence or raising a family, a passion that He has woven into your heart to bring light to the world, He’s the Father you’ve been looking for.
A Helping Hand
There’s one last thing about His ability I want us to see: the reality that the perfect Father is able tells us He has the power to assist us in any area of our lives. Both Zacchaeus’s story and that of the woman Jesus met at the well ended in miracles of personal transformation.
You’d think that if the Son of God went to dinner at a tax collector’s house it would end in disaster. And if Jesus met a five-time divorcée on the street, then you’d expect an extravaganza of shame and condemnation. But both people found healing and freedom through their encounters with Jesus. Sure, Jesus could talk about tax issues all night long, and He could recount the details of every shattered marriage the woman had endured. Yet He didn’t just come to prove that He was aware of their circumstances, He came to change their lives for the better. And He had the power and authority to do so.
I was at a music event recently where a little eight-year-old girl couldn’t see the stage, so she asked her dad to pick her up so she could see. In one motion he hoisted her high in the air and sat her down on his shoulders. By now she was about eight feet tall, a few feet higher than everyone else in the crowd. The dad’s smile told me he was so glad his daughter had a better view, but he was equally proud she had asked for him to flex his might and do something she couldn’t do.
A good dad doesn’t despise his little kid’s request for help. They love it. In the same way, God is not annoyed by your requests. He’s happy you came to Him and thrilled that you thought of Him as able and willing to help.
The flawless Father is able to do what no one else can do for you. Beyond the cross of Christ, there’s an equally significant moment in time that lets you know that God is able—it’s the moment God raised Jesus from the grave.
Through the Power of an Empty Tomb
That heavy stone the guards had used to seal the tomb where Jesus’ dead body lay was easily moved by an angel sent by the perfect Father. The demonstration of God’s ability wasn’t moving the stone. God had already done the more miraculous work when He called forth His Son from the depths of the Hades. The darkness trembled as sin and hell were defeated; Jesus was alive forever, a victorious champion over sin and death.
When our eyes are open with the new “revelation sight” we talked about earlier, we come to see this: God’s power is limitless and His arm is mighty to save. We’ve already highlighted this passage where Paul encourages us to see with new eyes, but it’s worth repeating:
I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of his calling, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and the surpassing greatness of his power to us who believe. He displayed this power in the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. (Eph. 1:18–21)
God wants us to see how great is His power (ability), and to know we have access to that power in Christ.
Paul also says, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Rom. 8:11).
Mark gives an account in chapter nine of his Gospel, about a man whose son was possessed by an evil spirit. Jesus’ disciples prayed for the son but to no avail. When Jesus arrived, everyone was arguing about why the boy wasn’t getting free. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this”
“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
Notice the father said to Jesus if you can , meaning, if you are able!
“If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
The father was honest and said, “I do believe, help my unbelief.”
That’s probably where we all are to one degree or another—somewhere between belief and unbelief. I pray that as you take this journey, your eyes will open to see that the perfect Father, who is loving and good, the One who is in control, will provide everything you need. That Father is able to do all He says He can do.
The Perfect Father Is Present
We all long for our earthly fathers to participate actively in our world. Above all, we don’t want to be left alone. We want our earthly dad to put down his phone, stop scrolling the news on his tablet, mute the TV, and truly listen to us. We want him to show up at our basketball games. We want him to remember to call on our birthdays. We want him to visit the hospital when our first baby is born. We want our dad to be there in the important moments. It’s part of his blessing. His active participation demonstrates to us that we are important in his world. We matter.
Every earthly dad can’t be present all the time. Like mine. He’s never showing up for an important event in my life again. He can’t. He’s gone. But there are other reasons dads don’t show up. Some are outside of our fathers’ control. Business meetings are a part of the fabric of life, and airline flights get canceled. Even the divorce that’s wrecked your family tree might not be your dad’s desire. Maybe your mom’s the one who lost the plot, or cheated on the family, or fell into a pattern of abuse or addiction. It’s possible your dad is eager to lavish you with his love (and does his best from afar), but a custody settlemen
t prevents him from being a part of your day-to-day life.
Other dads have chosen to opt out. Distance grows over time and, as a result, dad doesn’t always show up when you need him to. Worse, some dads check out of our lives altogether.
But the perfect Father remains present with us. In fact, this has been a trait of our God from the beginning. In the garden, God walked with the first humans in the cool of the day. When His people were navigating the desert after being freed from bondage, God had Moses build a tent of meeting where His presence descended in a cloud that covered the tent as God talked with Moses face-to-face. In time, the tent was replaced by a tabernacle, and then a temple, and in each place, there was the promise of God’s presence.
One night in Bethlehem things changed—Christ was born. God was no longer in a tent or a temple, not in the cloud or some other manifestation of His nearness. God was now among men in the person of Jesus, whose name is called Emmanuel—God with us.
The psalmist encouraged us, speaking about the perfect Father, “In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11 esv ). Now, in Christ we have the promise, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5 esv ). Nowhere in the New Testament do we have the imagery of God’s presence like we find in the Old Testament, or even a single invitation to seek His presence. Why is this? Does God’s presence not matter anymore?
Of course it does, but because God is now among men, we see that through the Spirit of God and the person of Christ, He is living in the hearts of believers. This is how we know we will never be alone—because Christ lives in us.
We can still feel lonely, especially when we drift away from true community with God’s people, losing touch with the Spirit and the Word. But God never leaves. He is always there. Yes, there are times when we sense that God is near more than others, like that sense of knowing that someone you love just walked into the room. But the joy of that moment is actually discovering the person you sensed walking into the room is actually in the room with you. I sensed your presence , you might say, but I’m so glad you are here .