“God’s My True Father”
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
Jenni B. writes:
At the age of 12, I entered the foster care system because of severe abuse and neglect from an alcoholic father and a mentally ill step-mother. My mother had died when I was a baby of kidney failure. I lived with two of my grandparents, but one was also an alcoholic and one died of cancer.
Shortly after entering the foster care system, I was wandering around my new neighborhood, and I discovered Children’s Bible Hour (CBH). I was familiar with this organization and with the radio personality “Uncle Charlie” because I used to listen to the program in the early hours of the morning while I was still living with my parents.
In a moment of pre-adolescent curiosity, I entered CBH in a halter top and shorts and asked to meet “Uncle Charlie.” To my surprise, he actually came out to see me. He sat down with me and listened to my story and then he shared Psalm 68 with me. Through his tears of compassion, he explained to me that God is a Father to the fatherless and that He puts the lonely in families.
Those verses went straight to my heart because my Dad had just given up his rights to me. The pain in my heart was greater than I could ever have expressed, but these verses gave me the comfort that my heart needed. I learned that even though my earthly father rejected me, I have a heavenly Father who will never reject me.
I clung to these verses and to this hope throughout my junior high and high school years. Though I carried the fantasy that my Dad would get his act together and reclaim me as his daughter, that never happened. The comfort that I have now though is that I am God’s daughter, and no matter what else happens in my life, God will always be my Faithful Father.
I know without a doubt that these scriptures filled me with hope and comfort during my childhood and gave me the will to live when it seemed that everything else was against me.
Now as an adult, I depend heavily on the Word of God not only for wisdom, direction, strength, and peace in my own life but also for those that I minister to in my church and in my Christian counseling practice (I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a small groups/discipleship pastor within my church).
Please note that the views expressed in this story are not necessarily the views of the American Bible Society. Story posted on September 10th, 2007 and filed under Hope, God's Love, Your Stories, Life Verse, Most Popular Stories.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Throughout the Bible, people call out to God and define Him by who He is to them. Hagar called Him the “God who sees me!” To me, God is also the God who fathers me.
My parents got divorced when I was about three and my father played an almost nonexistent role in my life until I was twelve, when my mother, who had been increasingly neglectful, finally had a mental breakdown and started to physically abuse my brother and me. After my brother called the police, we moved in with him. I love my father very much, but he is still more of a friend than a father, and next month it will be a year since my mother’s death.
Though your situation was so much more intense and literal, I’ve also grown up feeling parentless. God is my daddy, too, and I’m so grateful to have one who is really rearing me! Now I have a dad who can comfort and console me, guide and advise me, and rebuke me when I need it. I’m only sixteen, so I do need it quite a bit, unfortunately, ha-ha.
I really understand and was so moved by your story. It’s such an amazing one! I love you, sister!
September 12th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Thanks Megan! You have a lot of maturity for a sixteen year old. Our Daddy seems to be doing a wonderful job of parenting you.
It will be cool to see how He plans to use your story in the future chapters of your life.
September 15th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
That’s such a touching story. That is the same verse I was given after my father died.
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:49 pm
you definitely have a touching story.i praise god for people like you. cause your truthful and its seen. i tried to share my story but i hate limitations. god does not limit humans. it is man that limits humans. man is toltally wrong in that regard.