Oh, I’ve heard a thousand stories of what they think You’re like.
But I’ve heard the tender whisper of love in the dead of night.
And You tell me that You’re pleased and that I’m never alone.

Oh, and I’ve seen many searching for answers far and wide.
But I know we’re all searching for answers only You provide.
Because You know just what we need before we say a word.

You’re a good, good Father.
It’s who You are, it’s who You are, it’s who You are.
And I’m loved by You.
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am.

Because You are perfect in all of Your ways!
You are perfect in all of Your ways!
You are perfect in all of Your ways to us!

Oh, it’s love so undeniable, I can hardly speak.
Peace so unexplainable, I can hardly think.
As You call me deeper still,
As You call me deeper still,
As You call me deeper still,
into love, love, love …

“Good, Good Father” Kalley Heiligenthal, Bethel Church

I heard this song for the first time in church this morning, and I absolutely love it. It’s so simple and yet so profoundly descriptive of my relationship with God — as God would have it. Of all the ways I think of God, I think of Him most as my “good, good father”. And of all the things in the world that could define me, with all my heart I want my worth to come entirely from the fact that God loves me and has made me His own.

I think God made Himself fairly clear on the subject…

• “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18)
• “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37)
• “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
• “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

Seems to me that the Apostle John totally got the fatherhood of God, and evidently so do the folks at Bethel Church. This is by no means the only song they’ve done that speaks to God’s love for us as our Father.

I think we over-complicate life. I think I over-complicate life. Just run to God. Be a child. Be messy. You don’t have it all together, and you won’t anytime soon. To be honest, I think the insane effort we exert to “get on top of things” spiritually is largely about us, not about God. I don’t know if that time is “wasted” per se, but I don’t think it’s what God had in mind. We don’t clench our fists and try hard to be better. We relate to God and He does what He does: make old broken things new and dead things alive. I’m not excusing sin or licentiousness, I’m calling for love and sonship / daughtership.

I wonder, if we could extract ourselves for a second from our individualistic, self-actualized, total-autonomy-to-do-anything-and-call-it-freedom culture, then perhaps we would be able to do a little more resting in God and just being in relationship with people. I wonder if that would be better. Images of walking in the garden in the cool of the day and laughing together at the dinner table come to mind. Maybe life isn’t as complicated as we make it out to be. Maybe God’s perfect fatherly love is far more powerful than we give it credit for. Maybe we’d be amazed at what kind of life change and witness and fruit of good works would come from spending more time curled up in Dad’s lap for a good story or some old-fashioned undistracted time together.

I think that’s an experiment worth trying.