I can still recall the feeling I would get when I would hear someone say, "I am Daddy's little girl." For years I thought I would never experience what it felt like to be "Daddy's little girl." I believe it is something every girl longs for in her life. . .to be cherished, loved, and treasured by our earthly fathers.
According to the U.S, Department of Census, 43% of US children live without their father.
The reality of it all is that many of us women grew up without a father. Most of us came from a broken home without the stability, security, and protection of a loving earthly father. Many of us may have had a father who was distant emotionally, absent from our homes, too busy working, abusive or neglectful, and it may have left us growing up feeling unloved by our fathers. It is this very feeling that left us looking for ways to fill that void. We begin to fill those voids with sex, drugs, pornography, and anything else that we can use as a coping mechanism. Because honestly, we were created, designed, and fashioned to love and be loved.
We were created for relationship. We see this in Genesis 2:18, "And the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help-meet for him."" Although, this is applied to a relationship of a husband and wife, it is clear that God didn't design humans to be loners. We were made to desire relationships, and community with each other. That includes the the desire to love and be loved by our earthly mother and father.
We were created for relationship. We see this in Genesis 2:18, "And the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help-meet for him."" Although, this is applied to a relationship of a husband and wife, it is clear that God didn't design humans to be loners. We were made to desire relationships, and community with each other. That includes the the desire to love and be loved by our earthly mother and father.
Statistics
Daughters of single parents without a Father involved are 53% more likely to marry as teenagers, 711% more likely to have children as teenagers, 164% more likely to have a pre-marital birth and 92% more likely to get divorced themselves.
Adolescent girls raised in a 2 parent home with involved Fathers are significantly less likely to be sexually active than girls raised without involved Fathers. [The Fatherless Generation]
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, 71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father.
A Father's impact on their daughter's life. . .
...either positively or negatively.
Don't get me wrong. A mother's nurturing love is crucial. Even as a grown women, I have always needed and desired my mom to be present when I gave birth to my children, or when I needed emergency surgery. I loved having my husband there, but nothing compares to that calming, and soothing love that can only comes from the presence of your momma.
But a dad's impact on his daughter's life is very different.
- A dad teaches us how to interact with guys.
- We learn from our dads how we should be treated by a man.
- An earthly and father is the first man in our lives that has the opportunity to affirm our beauty, worth, and value, and as a godly father, he can teach them that true beauty, value, and worth can only be found in Jesus.
- They are the first and an important example of how a husband should treat his wife.
It is very unfortunate, but the truth is that many girls don't receive affirmation and love from their fathers, therefore they search for empty substitutes of it in the world.
God's impact on His daughter's life. . .
Oftentimes our feelings of rejection, bitterness, loneliness, etc. tend to be projected onto our Heavenly Father.
Although, raised Catholic, I never had a personal relationship with God, and most certainly did not look at Him as a "father figure" in my life.
I recall plenty of times yelling, and angrily shaking my fist at God screaming, "Why, doesn't my dad love me, God? Why isn't he here?" When your earthly father has let you down, you begin to wonder if God will or has done the same. If you didn't have your dad around to love and protect you, you question if you can rely on God to be your protection. How can God make you feel safe, right?
It took over 30 years to realize that God is not like my dad at all! God has never let me down. He has never disappointed me. The Bible clearly tells us that God will meet all of our needs according to His glorious riches in Jesus Christ (Phil 4:9). Notice this verse says that God will meet "all" of our needs. Not just "some" or "most," but every need. Even the needs not met by our earthly fathers. We can rely on God to be faithful and do what He promises.
I had to open my Bible, and learn the character of God as my heavenly Father. When I did I found over and over that God is loving, trustworthy, and has my best interests in mind.
I had to change how I saw God, and focus on how He saw me. His precious daughter.
Your heavenly Father loves you completely.
God will always strengthen His daughters. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah (Psalm 46:1-3,7).
The Lord is good, a Strength and Stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows (recognizes, has knowledge of, and understands) those who take refuge and trust in Him (Nahum 1:7).
God will never leave His daughters.‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’ (Isaiah 41:10).
God wants His daughter's pain. Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved [made to slip, fall, or fail] (Psalm 55:22).
Casting the whole of your care, [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully (1 Peter 5:7).
God will always protect His daughters. He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved (Psalm 62:6).
God's daughters can trust in Him and His Word. And they that know your name will put their trust in you: for you, LORD, have not forsaken them that seek you (Psalm 9:10).
Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write: for these words are true and faithful (Rev. 21:5).
God delights and rejoices over His daughters. The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing (Zep. 3:17).
God knows His daughters intimately. O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You them me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it (Psalm 139:1-6).
God created His daughters exactly how he wanted. For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them (Psalm 139:13-16).
God will never leave or abandon His daughters. The LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you (Deut. 31:6).
These are only a few verses expressing God's love for you. There are so many more. It may be hard for some of you to recognize and even accept God's love right now. That's okay. I felt that too. But I want you to know that God loves you so much. You are so precious to Him. Just as you desired a relationship with your earthly father, you heavenly father desires a relationship with you. Jesus invites us to come to Him. When we draw near to Him, he draws near to us (James 4:8).
Meredith Andrews sang in You Invite Me In;
"You invite us in. Doesn't matter where we've been. Your arms are open wide,there's nothing left to hide How can this be? A love so unfailing reached down and lifted me from ashes to beauty."
Will you let go of your past and forgive your earthly father? Will you stop looking to the world to fill your empty voids, and look to Jesus to satisfy your every longing desire?
Your heavenly Father is waiting for you. He has invited you into His arms.
Will you accept His invitation?
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