attention
“My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.”
Proverbs 4:20-22 ESV
Like a young daughter seeking the face of her doting Father and finding immense pleasure and satisfaction – so is the Lord’s face when I place my attention on Him.
If you’re reading this the day it’s released, it’s the Monday after Father’s Day – a relatively average Hallmark holiday for some, a celebration of great men for many, and a tender day for some of us who feel a deep ache in our spirit, a longing for something we don’t have on this side of heaven but are created to know - Fathership.
It’s around this day I find my spirit more downcast than usual about the subpar relationship I have with my own father, wondering about the ‘measure of love’ or ‘validation’ I could feel if this relationship reflected its original heavenly intention or looked like the father-daughter relationships I see around me and long for in the deep parts of my heart.
But it’s also here in this space of wrestling, sadness, and longing that I hear Him whisper. I feel Him tap on my spirit. I notice His eyes trying to catch my gaze (if I could just look up) and remind me of who I am and more importantly, who He is.
A Father to His daughter.
It’s a truth I know in my head but doesn't always make its way down to resonating in my heart. So He says, “Daughter, be attentive to my words, incline your ear to my sayings.” He is calling my attention to His face; like a young daughter seeking the face of her doting Father and finding immense pleasure and satisfaction – so is the Lord’s face when I place my attention on Him. When I surrender the should have, would have, could have thoughts, and incline my ear to His sayings, I hear truth, I receive life and healing (4:22) like a balm to my heart’s wounds.
I pray that whether it’s Father’s Day or any day of the year, would we be able to turn our attention to our true Father, the Father who knows us more intimately than we know ourselves, who can count the hairs on our heads and calls us His own, who stills anxiety, casts out depression, replaces comparison and gives us the deepest love a Father can have for His daughter in return. Let’s lean back on our Father and incline our ears to His truths.
additional reading:
Proverbs 4: 25-27 / Psalm 68: 5 / Isaiah 9:6
reflect:
Spend a moment with the Lord, where can you place your attention on Him today? What is your heavenly Father wanting to speak to you as His daughter?
centering prayer:
Abba Father, thank you for reminding us of who you are. Today I am turning my attention to you and when I incline my ear to your truths, would you remind me I am your beloved daughter. Amen.
