It’s important the way you see God in your life.  It’s important what you think about God, and not just in general terms, but what you think about God, in the worst moments of your life, when you encountered traumatic things, that hurt you.  

The world describes issues with our earthly fathers as daddy issues.  Theres a lot of studies that say most everything that ails peoples lives stem from some form of issues with their father.  People are traumatized by perceived shortcomings in their relationship with their father.  It can be you didn’t get the love or acceptance or approval you needed.  Maybe your dad was harsh.  Maybe he wasn’t there for you when you needed him the most.  Maybe you were left alone when you needed your dad the most.  Maybe you see yourself as being left alone in your time of need; that your father somehow didn’t protect you, or give your life the nurture it needed, when you needed it the most.  

These same kinds of things try and plague us in our relationship with our Heavenly 
Father.  The large majority of peoples daddy issues with God stem from what they think about God in the moments their lives were suffering harm in the world.  We all know, there’s an inherent knowing in all of us that there’s no death in God.  We all know there’s no fear or darkness in God.  We all know in God is only light and life and love … even athiests …. the reason they say they don’t believe in God is because how can there be a God if the world is filled with so much suffering and death … they see the presence of suffering and death as the absence of God.  

Trauma tries to blind us to the presence of the Father; it tries to blind us to His likeness shining on us …. When we encounter trauma .. the trauma says Where’s God?  The trauma tries to give us daddy issues.  It tries to tell us God left us alone when we needed him the most; that He isnt the Father we need.  

The people who abused my mother, and the other children, and animals in front of her.  They didnt just physically abuse them.  They always delivered a message to my mother in the midst of the torture.  And do you know what the message was?  They told her she was all alone; that God wasnt there; that God didnt care about her or them; that He wouldnt give her life the care she needed.  He wasnt there for her in her time of need …. Thats what the pharisees told jesus … where’s God?  Here you are in the midst of tribulation, now’s the time you need him the most.  Where is he?  If He cares for you where is he?  

The world wants to convince us God is a deadbeat dad.  It doesnt just want to serve us with tribulation; it wants our lives to be born from, and shaped by the trauma we’ve experienced.  And the way it does that is to try and convince us God wasnt there for us in our time of need; when we needed Him the most.  Jesus comes to declare the Father to us.  He came into the earth to paint an image of the Father …. You can say Jesus came to heal our daddy issues …. 

Jhn 16:32  Behold, the hour comes, yea, is now come, that you shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 

I can say a lot of things about the faith Jesus authored in the earth.  But, at the core of the faith Jesus authored in the earth, is the Father is as He ought to be as Father; as life giver; as the caregiver of your life. At the core of the son of God’s faith is that he’s never alone, the Father is with Him, shepherding his life; giving His life the care it needs …. that even should everyone scatter from him, and it looks like he is alone, and it looks like the Father is scattered from him too.  Even should it look like the Father wasnt with him in his time of need.  When he needed him the most, that the Father is with him in the midst of his afflcition; taking thought to give His life the care it needs; giving him exceedingly abundantly above all he can ask or think.  

Jesus looked like he was alone on the cross in his time of need, but he was never alone.  He saw the Fathers face shining on him in the midst of the cross; the Holy Spirit immersed him in the Fathers likeness, clothing him in the midst of his affliction, comforting him; strengthening him; casting down the strength of the tribulation from the high places of his heart, interceding in Jesus’ heart, lifting up His union with the Father.

Simply put the faith of the Son of God; the faith of Jesus Christ; the faith he authored in the earth is that we’ve never been alone.  Even when it looked like we were alone.  When it looked like everyone including God was scattered from us, the Father was with us, His face was always shining on us, to immerse us in His likeness.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

Paul connects the faith of the son of God with Jesus laying down his life for us …. Theres a lot we can say about the work of Jesus in laying down his life, but one of the things Jesus was doing there is he is healing our blindness. 

Jesus says in Luke 4:18 he came to heal the broken hearted, and to heal the sight of those who are blind.  The blind are those who couldnt see Gods face shining upon them in their time of need.  The brokenhearted are those who thought they were alone in their time of need.  Jesus heals the brokenhearted through the recovering of sight

We were living by our natural sight, thinking we were all alone; that the Father left us alone when we needed Him the most; not giving our lives the care we needed; as if he was indifferent to our hurt.  At the cross Jesus was as a master artiste; painting a magnificent portrait in the earth; painting the image of God with us in the midst of the trauma that came against our lives; helping us to see the Father was with us in our time of need; His face shining upon us with His likeness; to cloth upon us; in the evil day; when our lives and our hearts; came under attack.  

Paul says we live by faith and not by sight.  We live by the faith of Jesus.  We live by the faith authored by Jesus.  We see Jesus on the cross, and we see he is not alone in his time of need, the Father is with him.  We see the death and trauma of the cross.  We see our trauma and our afflictions in him, and we see we were never alone …. It’s our griefs and sorrows; he’s carrying.  We see him cry out to the Father, and we see the Father there with him; his face shining upon him; and we see its the evidence the father was there with us, in the midst of our trauma; his face shining upon us, to cloth us in His likeness.  We see the Holy Spirit interseding in Jesus heart, refreshing him with the presence of the Father.  That heals our sight.  It gives us eyes to see the Holy Spirit with us; ministering the father to us; refreshing us with the presence of the Father.  Our prayer to the Holy Spirit becomes, according to his ministry to open our eyes to the Father’s righteousness towards our life; refreshing us by opening our eyes to the Father’s presence.

we’re supposed to see God on the cross; it’s meant to be a sign we’ve never been alone; He’s always been there as our David; warring against the giant of death that tried to war against us; we’re supposed to see God with us at the cross; in the midst of the darkness and the death that comes upon our lives; so we can live by the faith that we are never alone …

The faith heals our blindness; the blindness is we couldn’t see Gods face shining on us; in the midst of our affliction; we couldn’t see him there because of the thick darkness of death and hurt and trauma and tribulation.  In the midst of your deepest; darkest hurts and traumas; God was there; with His hand stretched forth towards you; resting upon your head with His life … you were never alone .. the father was there with you; His face was shining on you.  I know it looks like God was scattered from you and you were all alone, but God was there with you in the midst of it … the world was blinding you to His presence … Everything you’ve always needed was with you in the midst of the trauma … the trauma was working to try and blind you to the presence of the Father … Not only were you never alone.  The Fathers face was always shining His likeness on you.  He was always there to cloth upon your nakedness … we couldn’t see that before, but now we see Jesus on the cross, and we see the Godhead with us in our darkest moments.  We see the light there in the midst of the valley shadowed with death, and it consumes the darkness.  God was in Christ, pouring Himself out; pouring out His life; so His life can be your refuge; your sanctuary in the midst of this world thats shadowed by death.  

Even with the issues that may be present with our earthly fathers …. The reason we can feel so hurt is because we see our relationship with them, as if we didnt get something we needed for our lives to flourish … whether it be affirmation, or love, or acceptance, and that leaves us feeling alone with a broken heart ……. But now, we see Jesus, and we see even in those moments where our earthly Fathers may not have been there for us, what we really needed was in our Heavenly Father, and he was always there with us to be the Father we need.  

Psa 139:8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

The faith that is of Jesus, is that even should my bed be made in hell; the grave; death, you are with me Father, shepherding my life, giving me the care I need; preparing a table for me; serving me my daily bread. 

Prayer … ask the Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see that the Father was with you in those moments.  His face was always shining on you ….