What member of the trinity do you naturally relate to the most?

“What member of the trinity do you naturally relate to the most?” 

I’m not really sure where I first interacted with this question, but I haven’t stopped thinking about it since it popped up. I began to think about how I would answer and honestly had a tough time deciding. Though, I do believe I have arrived at a pretty lengthy answer. 

The churches that I was a part of growing up placed much emphasis on God the Father, far more than God the Spirit or God the Son. We spent a large amount of time comparing God to our earthly fathers, which was great for me as a young lad, but as I grew older that became more complicated. 

You see, my dad has always been present in my life and there has never been a moment that I doubted his love for me, but our relationship wasn’t the best through my teenage years. As a kid, I was already a mama’s boy, so when my parents divorced and my dad moved down the street, I naturally became more attached to my mom. Dad was around, but it wasn’t the same as having him in the house with us every day. Ya know!? It made our relationship hard for me, so I grew to resent him. I held a lot of bitterness toward him and that wasn’t fair. 

When I moved to college, my relationship with my dad began to heal. I stayed with him when I came home for breaks and things got much better. I started to release the bitterness that I’d held tightly to for so long and I began to forgive him until it was done. I’d forgiven him, so I moved on. I started to be friends with my dad. 

In one of my last blogs, “October 28, 2020” I referenced a moment when “God spoke and now it’s my responsibility to handle what he has told me to handle.” and I don’t know if you’ve been wondering what he told me to do, but in my head, you’ve been hanging on to that and I’m here to relieve you of your hanging. 

God told me to tell my dad that I forgive him. 

I’d never thought about actually telling my dad that I forgive him. I already forgave him, why did I need to share that? 

As the hurricane raged outside my house on October 28, God reminded me that he told me to tell my dad and I knew He wouldn’t let me move on until I had done it, so I wrote my dad a letter that I never thought I would read to him. Remember, the power was out because of the hurricane, so I did that with my headlamp being my only source of light. When I finished, I tried to go to sleep, but I was so restless. I knew I needed to talk to my dad, so I texted him and asked if we could hang out, just him and I. I kid you not, the moment he responded, the power in the house came back. I was blown away. 

The next day, my dad texted me to let me know that he’d be passing through my town and wanted to get dinner with me. I had no idea that this would come so soon, but it did. He and Lanie (my stepmom) came for dinner and then dad and I got to talk and I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that I’ve never felt closer to my dad. Our relationship has never been better. My dad is my best friend and I’m so glad he’s my dad. When I can’t count on anyone else, I know that I can count on him. 

Honestly, my relationship with my earthly father was a pretty accurate representation of my relationship with God the father. I knew that He loved me, but I was bitter. My life’s been nothing short of hard and I knew he had the power to breathe and make all my pain disappear, but he chose not to. I was bitter. I resented him. God and I have spent so much time together this year. I don’t really have much else to do since I came home from camp. He’s taught me alot about who He is and who He has created me to be. This year has been one long pursuit of devotion to Him as He has restored my perception of who He is. 

So, I am learning that there is more to a father than discipline and rebuking. A father is a kind, compassionate, loving friend and I’m thankful for how my earthly dad is teaching me that about my heavenly one.

To answer that question, What member of the trinity do you naturally relate to the most? The Father.

And if you’ll allow me the honor, I’d like to turn that back to you.. What’ll it be? 

Thank you for reading and thank you so incredibly much for your support. I love you, 

AWM