29 July | Youth

The Father’s Voice

«And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”» Galatians 4:6

The love between parents and children is a wonderful thing. The family bond establishes trust and devel-ops a fundamental affinity for life. Only God’s love can compare to this type of relationship. In the Bible, we find several examples of emotional bonds between fathers and sons: Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Benjamin, among others.

Parents and children who have a close relationship can communicate even in a crowd. I (Ailton) had the privilege of experiencing moments in which I was able to convey confidence to my children using just my voice. On one occasion, there was a sudden power outage in our house. The children were far from me and my wife at the moment. They were small at the time, and this contributed to the blackout causing them to be scared and freightened. I could hear crying voices coming from some corner of the house.

Their crying lasted until I said: “Daddy is here, daddy is here!” I have never uttered a sentence as miraculous as that. At the same time, the tone of the crying changed. They began to guide themselves in the direction of my voice and, little by little, they felt their way in the dark until they touched me.

I remember the affectionate way they hugged me. They felt safe with me, even in the dark. If the voice of a human father can convey so much confidence, what could the voice of our heavenly Father not do in our temptations or trials? It would certainly provide much more comfort and safety. The problem is that we are not always willing to listen to His voice.

In Galatians 4:6, the apostle presents God’s desire to have a closer relationship with us. The Lord does not want us to call Him just Father, but Daddy (this is a good translation for the Aramaic expression Abba). God desires that we trust in Him and that we dedicate time to be in His presence. This is important for us, especially in times of trouble. In the dark, a son knows how to identify his father’s voice and feels safe with it.

How has your relationship with the supreme Father been? If God speaks, will you know that it is His voice? For there to be intimacy, there must be communion. Always listen to your Father’s voice. When there is a blackout in your life, you will know what God’s voice is like.