God the Father

- The Philippines

Abelardo had accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, but he had a hard time thinking of God as his Father. Jesus he could relate to. Jesus was kind, He helped people, He stood against hypocrites and stood up for the poor and downtrodden. Jesus brought joy and freedom he had never known before.

Comforter - yes. Deliverer - yes.

But Father?

No.

Now, he had walked into the door of his house, and some men from his church were there. They said that his father had just accepted the Lord. Some time ago, they had lent his father a Proclaimer, and as he listened to God's Word in Tagalog, the Holy Spirit had softened his heart. Now, here they were, obviously expecting him to give his father a hug.

"I'm not going to hug him!!" Abelardo yelled.

A combination of rage, disgust, and frustration came over him. These men didn't get it, and Abelardo knew that unless they had experienced it themselves, no amount of words would ever make them understand.

He'd spent too many nights in fear during his father's drunken rages. Nights which ran into each other and became years. One big eggshell, cracking underneath his feet - no matter how carefully he walked - even when he didn't dare move at all. When he was little, he would spend hours outside, hiding, trying to be invisible. Then, when he would hear the screams coming from inside the house, he would run in and try to stop his father from beating his mother. But he couldn't - he was too little. Now he pushed his way in between them and took the punches. His mother always did the same for him. And each time, he hated his father more.

Now, here were these men, at his house, telling him his father had received the Lord.

His father would probably start drinking as soon as they left, and take his anger out on him because they came to his home. And they wondered why he didn't want to hug him!

They left, and Abelardo waited for his father to start drinking.

He didn't.

Or the next night either.

As Abelardo continued to watch, his father didn't get drunk, and he didn't blow up, but he did spend a lot of time listening to the Proclaimer.

They started listening to the Proclaimer together.

Then, they began talking.

The relationship that Abelardo had never had with his father, had never thought he would have, began to become real. He couldn't believe it. For years, he had wished he could have a father who played with him instead of beat him, who talked to him instead of yelled. And now, here was his father talking to him, encouraging him, caring about him.

They started going to church together. Abelardo was secretly proud to be able to sit there with his dad. His father was proud too. A missionary who saw them said, "I saw Abelardo and his father sitting together at church last Sunday. They were both beaming and clearly enjoying their new relationship."

Praise God, the perfect Father, who works to restore men into His image. Turning the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.

Thank you, Union Church, Hong Kong; The Way of Holiness Church, Buckhannon, WV; Orlando Baptist Church, Orlando, FL; North Gainesville Baptist Church, Gainesville, FL; First Baptist Church, Dover, NJ; Greater Point Baptist Church, Stevens Point, WI; Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, Wellborne, FL; Classen Boulevard Baptist Church, Norman, OK; and International Christian Center, Chula Vista, CA, for providing Audio Bibles for people in the Philippines so they may have the opportunity to hear God's Words of life.