everlasting father

And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father. Isaiah Ch 9 v6

It can be hard describing a really good father. For many, this has not been our earthly experience. Whilst some have had good models of fatherhood, others have had bad ones, through an absent father or an uncaring or over demanding one. If we have had a good father then it might be easier for us to experience the father heart of God. For those whose experience has been lacking we might only have an inkling of what a good father could be like when compared to the one we have had.

Today I want to share this quote from Henri Nouwen as he shares his understanding of ‘Everlasting Father’.

“The heart of the father burns with an immense desire to bring his children home. Oh, how much he would have liked to talk to them, to warn them against the many dangers they were facing and to convince them that at home can be found everything that they search for elsewhere. How much would he have liked to pull them back with his fatherly authority and hold them close to himself so that they would not get hurt.

But his love is too great to do any of that. It cannot force, constrain, push or pull. It offers the freedom to reject that love or to love in return. It is precisely the immensity of the divine love that is the source of the divine suffering. God, creator of heaven and earth, has chosen to be, first and foremost, a Father.

As Father, he wants his children to be free, free to love. That freedom includes the possibility of their leaving home, going to a ‘distant country’ and losing everything. The Father’s heart knows all the pain that will come from that choice, but his love makes him powerless to prevent it. As Father, he desires that those who stay at home enjoy his presence and experience his affection. But here again he wants only to offer a love that can be freely received. He suffers beyond telling when his children offer him only with lip service, while their hearts are far from him. He knows their ‘deceitful tongues’ and ‘disloyal hearts’, but he cannot make them love him without losing his true fatherhood…….

Here is the God I want to believe in: a Father who, from the beginning of creation, has stretched out his arms in merciful blessing, never forcing himself on anyone, but always waiting; never letting his arms drop down in despair, but always hoping that his children will return so that he can speak words of love to them and let his tired arms rest on their shoulders. His only desire is to bless.”