A good good Father

If you look at the story of Genesis you get an amazing idea of family. You can see a brand new father, God. Who finds his new children in Adam and Eve making a mess of his new home. Pooping everywhere. Crying nonstop. God swoops in like a parent with a new born and over reacts to everything. Then when Cain kills Abel God swoops in immediately to check on his terrible twos children to see why they would do such terrible things. Instead of overreacting God punishes Cain and gives him a toddler leash. Then when God's kids get worse God again overreact like a new parent finding the whole house colored in purple crayon and he washes everything away in what we call the flood. The punishment is so serve that he promises to never punish his kids that way again. Then in babel his kids get smarter and more elaborate. They figure out how to build a ladder out of the crib and climb out of their room. So God separates the kids so they can't plan their mischief. In each story God is a loving Father who not only tries to teach his children how to behave but also learns how best to correct his children. Overtime God changes his reaction to his kids growth. At first he is wrath and anger, sending 10 commandments as setting rules in the house. Involved in every little scuffle like Sodom and Gommorah to bring a swift end to sibling rivalries. By the new testament God's had a lot of kids. Like a parent on their third kid, that third kid doesn't experience the parents correction like the first one. The first thousand year kids went through all the corrections but now we don't even get a peep out of the front seat when we curse as a toddler. Like the prodigal sons brother, the older generations are looking at us in disbelief because they made the same mistakes and God floods and hail fires and makes commandments and now God doesn't even say anything when kids get out of line he just says be good and keeps driving. We have to understand that God has been through a lot of kids. We are not the first ones to mess up. Your pain and sadness are not his first rodeo. He takes you in his arms and understands that what you go through, and also what your brother's went through and overcame. Inside of us is a whole history of change and growth from a new born to terrible twos to disobedient teens to over zealous 20s. God has been our father at every step in humanities childhood. So now, don't worry if you don't hear God when you skin your knee, don't fret when your brother steals your toy and no one corrects him. God has seen it all, he is a seasoned parent. Ready to help us grow in a volatile world. And right now he is in the driver seat saying don't worry, we have a destination. You don't have to keep asking where are we going. God knows. Like a good father with unruly children in the backseat he might stop the ride but he is going to keep going to get us to where he meant to take us. We might not know where we'll end up but at least we know we're in the car watching the world go by, seeing something new everyday. We live in a world where every mile can be frustrating. Life is hard, the waiting and riding in the car can be hard. But just like we arrive somewhere as a kid and see our new place. We also know that death is not the end. That grace is a long path set before us. That our brothers before us are waiting too. That God is a good good father who will get humanity, his children, to an expended end. Enjoy the ride. God means for us to enjoy this life.