Jealous and Never Changing Father

I realized today that God is always our Father, our Papa, no matter what we do or don't do. If we stray from Him and come back to Him, He is still our Papa. We don't have to strive to rebuild that relationship. It's like we can pick up right where we left off. At least I feel that way.

When we are angry at our parents, we don't stop calling them 'mom' and 'dad'. We might not talk to them for a period of time, but when we decide to come back to them, they are still 'mom' and 'dad'. We don't have to call them by their given names, but for what they are to us.

I was thinking about this in relation to God. I was on the mountain, enjoying Him as Papa and calling Him by that name, but somehow landed in the valley. When I was in the valley, it was a very dark time. I was angry at God and refused to talk to Him. He still spoke to me at times and He still pursued me, even when I was not receptive and I ran.

I was reading in Jeremiah 4 and in verse 1 it says, "If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return." I love this, because basically it is saying that if Israel is going to return anywhere, it should be to Him. It reveals His jealous nature and His love for Israel. I can hear Him pleading for them to come back to Him...that they should just return to Him...and I can feel His love for them. This only makes me realize His love for me and how eager He is to have me back, safe with Him.

He is a jealous God, but He is never changing. Although I have been far from Him for some time, I can still come back to Him at any time and pick up where I left off. I can call Him 'Papa', for that is who He truly is to me. I don't have to build our relationship from the beginning again, just like I don't have to start all over from day one with my mom when I get into an argument with her and don't speak to her for a few days. I can come back to her and still talk to her and call her 'mom'.

I'm not sure I'm getting across what I'm feeling and thinking clearly. It's difficult to put into words. But, I just wanted to share this, because I felt it was very important. It was important to me, anyway, because I realized that I could still call Him 'Papa.'