The four year old daughter of Diane, a friend of mine, was so unruly that her mother could hardly control her. Lori was the youngest of three children and “willful” would be an understatement of her character. Diane talked to her pediatrician who told her, “You can be very strict, or very lenient, but it is constancy that’s required. You’ve tried many different approaches, but when they didn’t work right away you changed again and again. Have patience and stick to one method, and it will work.” It did. In a short time Diane told me that things had improved and she was actually enjoying her daughter. What a relief!

It’s not incidental that Jesus calls God his Father, and the disciples brothers. (John 20:17)

It’s in the human family that the earliest seeds are planted for our relationship with the living God.

When God gave Noah the rainbow God said: “ As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” (Genesis 8:22) That very ancient promise is still in effect. Constancy is a characteristic of our God. It’s the power of love in infinite ways, but constantly loving. When Diane’s doctor led her to constancy he put a rock beneath Lori’s little feet on which she could depend and rely. It was life-correcting for her, and opened up a new relationship with her mother in which both rejoiced.

God’s constancy was dramatically displayed in Exodus as He drew His people out of Egypt, then spent forty years accompanying them to the Promised Land, and ultimately settled them there. His constancy was tested when the people rebelled, but He never failed to assure them that whatever punishment they must endure, “I will plant my people on the land I gave them, and they will not be pulled up again.” (Amos 9:15)

Diane’s problem with Lori was solved fairly easily because Diane saw progress every day. Like hers, our walk with God includes attentiveness and even sacrifices, but we don’t always see daily progress. Discovering the Fatherhood of God is finding the nourishing and sustaining constancy of His love. It is having a rock beneath our feet that makes life secure and even strong.

All the best parenting that happened to us in our childhood is a picture of God’s divine parenting now. Jesus said “Our Father. . .” He means us to make that discovery.

Love in Him,

Prue