What do you do when Father’s day hurts?  What happens when our view of God is shaped more by a father figure who has harmed us than it is by God’s own self revelation?  This father’s day, let’s wage a war against depression, anxiety, and despair by storing these precious truths into the treasury of our hearts.

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…you have been the helper of the fatherless. – Psalm 10:14

for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God – John 16:27

Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. -Hebrews 12:9–11

 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. -Galatians 4:4-7

Sing to God, sing praises to his name;  lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord;  exult before him!  Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. – Psalm 68:4-5

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. – 1 John 3:14

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Prayer

Lord, set these words deep in our hearts and strengthen us so that we may comprehend the magnitude of your mighty love for us in Christ.  Make our hearts less aware of ourselves and more aware of you for the sake of your name and for the sake of our joy.  In Christ’s name, amen.