Father Matters

mat•ter | ‘mater |

• a situation under consideration; a topic• something that evokes a specified feeling • something that is the concern of a specified person or agency

•

[with negative or in questions ] the reason for distress or a problem

•

be of importance; have significance• (of a person) be important or influential

Father

. All would agree that this is a word that is under an amazing amount of attack andscrutiny in our modern days. In certain situations, the critique is justiﬁed. In others it isunfortunate how the title carries with it a level of suspect and disdain. Many of the fathersportrayed in media are intended for a laugh and yet the joke cuts deep in many homes in which the father is either absent or disconnected. Did we get this way because of popularmedia or is media simply reﬂecting what has developed in real life? Perhaps i

s nature.Perhaps i

s nurture. Regardless, we got some problems that are not easily ﬁxed but arehaving a profound impact upon this generation and the ones to come.For years I’ve worked with individuals and families in need, and I’ve been haunted by thesequestions and concerns. The reason is because so many of the issues facing families arerooted in what I call

“Father Matters.”

When one peels away the layers of hurt andunrest, i

s quite common to ﬁnd that at the core is a breach with the father. This brokenor misplaced relationship can serve to tear at the ﬁber of our esteem, erode our ability toconnect, and undermine our capacity to cope.In my opinion, the father

rea

matters.Interestingly and unfortunately, the image of our earthly father is often superimposed uponthat of our Heavenly Father. The two uniquely go hand in hand. Not only have ourbiological fathers gotten a bad rap but so has our Father God

who lives in heaven. Hedesires an intimate relationship with his children, but often we are unable to get past the volume of preconceptions or fears. We have heart cries such as: Will you hurt me? Are you going to be there? Will you be involved? How much do you love me? Why are you absentand uninterested? These questions are

hurdles of the hear

that stand between us and our earthly fathers. They often remain in place for our Heavenly Father to have to jump over as well. This is becauseour relationship with our “seen father” becomes a mirror of our relationship with our“unseen Father.” The mental paradigm is set. The emotional mold has formed and it willtake a work of the heart AND mind to renew and restore us to right relationship. Thejourney of renewal and restoration begins with understanding the distinguishing featuresbetween God our

LORD

and God our

FATHER

. Our starting point is in Psalm

“Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds

–

his name is the LORD

–

and rejoice before him.”

(

68:4

)

Preeminent Lord

The word “preeminent” means “surpassing all others and very distinguished.” He is theLord that is often viewed as “out there.” He is the one that “rides on the clouds” and we areto extol and praise him. For the most part, we’ve got this part down. I

s easy to view himin this way because we technically cannot

him. He is God and he can do whatever he