Who Wipes Your Tears and Calms Your Fears?

When I was three and four years old, I can distinctly remember spending a lot of my time in two different places. One was seated in the crook of my father’s left arm as he walked to wherever he was going. The other place was standing beside him on the front bench seat of his pickup truck with his right arm around my knees. (Yes, it was something we did before strict car rider rules were enforced). I stayed in these two places until I was too heavy to carry everywhere and until my head hit the roof of the truck and I couldn’t fit standing on the seat any longer. In either location, I felt safe, secure and loved.

So, what brought these memories to mind? Father’s Day! Last month in my blog post, we celebrated the importance of mothers. This month let’s look at what fathers mean to us.

If you made a list of the good characteristics of your father or a father-figure in your life, what words would make the list? I just named three ways I felt in the presence of my dad when I was little. Safe, secure, loved. What others do you come up with?

Maybe you felt something along the same lines, or completely different feelings:

• Protected
• Entertained
• Happy
• Guided
• Seen
• Provided for

Now how would you describe his personality? Maybe these qualities strike a chord:

• Funny
• Strong
• Tender but tough
• Adventurous
• Intelligent
• Reliable

Fathers and father-figures provide a unique and crucial component to a child’s life.

Not the same components as a mother, not more or less important, just different. By design. I don’t think it’s breaking news that children respond differently to a father than a mother.

If we combined the characteristics listed above and the ones you contributed, we would have the depiction of a wonderful loving and caring father. Anyone would be blessed to know him.

Believe it or not, there is a father in our lives who is each of those things and more. Actually, He’s exactly some of the very words we suggested. The Lord has a long list of names, each with a special meaning to describe a particular aspect of Him.

In the very first verse of the Bible, He is named.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Here, the first Hebrew name of God is given (Elohim), meaning “The Strong One”, “The All-Powerful One”, “Creator”. This name is a fitting one since the very first topic in Genesis is the Creation.

When Moses is in the desert of Midian and the Lord speaks to him from the burning bush, He tells Moses to return to Egypt and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses asks God who he should say sent him, and God replies with the name YHWY (Yahweh, Jehovah). It sounds like a breath of air and means “I AM THAT I AM”. He is self-existent, eternal.   

Exodus 3:14

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Here are a few more of the many Hebrew names of God in the Old Testament:

God is Jehovah-Jireh (“The Lord Will Provide”) when He provides a ram for Abraham to offer as a burnt sacrifice instead of his son. He provides our every need, sometimes even before we know we need it.

He is El Roi (“The God Who Sees Me”) when He informs Hagar at the well that she will bear a son, Ishmael, knowing her affliction. He is always aware of our circumstances and troubles even if we do not verbalize them.

God is Jehovah-Rohi (“The Lord is My Shepherd”) as the well-known Psalm 23 illustrates. He fulfills the role of a shepherd to His children by protecting us, leading us, caring for us.

He is Jehovah-Rapha (“The Lord Who Heals”) as described by David who explains how He heals all our diseases. He restores both our physical health from disease and also our spiritual health from sin.

God is Jehovah-Shammah {“The Lord is There”) when he reveals to Ezekiel that this is the name of the new Jerusalem. He is always there – available and present to all those who need and want Him.

He is Jehovah-Shalom (“The Lord is Peace”) when the prophet Isaiah speaks about the birth of the Messiah who will be known as The Prince of Peace. He also provides us with an inner peace that passes all understanding.

This list is just a sampling of the names of God and by no means exhaustive. Let’s take a moment to summarize some of the characteristics of God that were mentioned.

Strong, Powerful, Creator, Self-Existent, Provider, The One Who Sees Us, Our Guiding Shepherd, Healer, Present, Peace

Many of these descriptions are the same as ones we used to describe a good father. However, the Lord is so much more. He also created us, will always exist and will never change, and is able to give us everlasting peace.

The Lord is every aspect of a Father that we need or want.

What more could we ask for?

Ponder this.

Maybe you didn’t sit in your Daddy’s left arm like I did, but stood beside him working on the car or reeling in that big fish. Perhaps you sat at his feet instead, listening to him tell a story. We can sit at the feet of the Lord at any age. We will never outgrow Him. If we believe in Him as our Saviour and if we are His child, He will always defeat our enemies and our sin. We can come to Him with incomprehensible utterings when we can’t even say or describe what we’re feeling. There is nothing more we could ask for in a father. So, take comfort and rest in His strong arms while He wipes our tears with the hem of His righteous robe.  

What will you do with this day you’ve been given? How will you make it matter for His Kingdom?