Girl, Who’s Your Daddy?

Who God Is To Us

I have always been confident in myself. Even through rejections, time constraints, or high hopes, I’ve consistently felt sure that I can get the job done, make things happen, and negotiate my way to what I truly want. I’ve attributed this belief in myself to my grandpa, who modeled and instilled in me from a young age that I was capable and valuable. He always made me feel like I could do anything.

As fortunate as I’ve been to have had my grandpa’s love in my life, my self-confidence is not the best gift he’s ever given me. It was my grandparents who led me to the love of the Lord as I moved in with them when I was 16. Encountering Christ in my late teens/early 20s stabilized me for the most confusing, dark, disorienting times to come. Through the difficult seasons and at my lowest of lows, it wasn’t who I was and what I was capable of doing that got me through. It wasn’t the 5 easy steps of how to be a better person or how to adopt a more positive mindset as a Christian. When I have felt the most lost and when I have needed the most stability, the only thing I wanted to know is Who is my God? Or as Priscilla Shirer put it:

When you feel like you can’t handle the task at hand, you ask yourself,

“Girl, who’s your Daddy?”

God has so many names in the Bible, each revealing His character and who He is. Names like Jehovah-Rapha which means the God who heals (Exodus 15:26), Jehovah-Shalom which means The Lord is Peace (Judges 6:24), or my personal favorite, Jehovah-Jireh, which means the Lord Provides (Genesis 22:14). Even in the beginning of creation God calls himself El Shaddai. El translated means God, and shad is the Hebrew word for breast. This would mean that our God is completely nourishing, totally satisfying, and suppling his people with all their needs, just as a mother would her child.

I am confidently assured that my God is not only strong and mighty, but my God loves me. I never have to wonder if I am seen, heard, thought of, cared about, or considered. On the hardest of days, I have found an inexplicable joy in praising God for who He is despite my circumstances. In those moments, instead of trying to pull myself up from my bootstraps, all I have to do is ask myself, “Girl, who’s your Daddy?”

Reflection

Which name for God speaks the most to you? Why is it meaningful to you?
When have you seen God’s character and/or heart on display in your life? How do you know God cares for you?
In what aspects of your life do you struggle with trusting in His character?

Goals

Write down the name of God that you have either heard or want to know more about. Write it on a note card or a sticky note and place it in places that you can read and repeat to yourself when you’re having a tough time. Write some of those locations here:

I am the Lord your God.

(Exodus 20:2; Leviticus 19 NLT)