By Melissa Maakestad

The first time I heard my niece call my brother-in-law "Da-da" was truly an awesome moment. She looked at him, pointed and said "Da-da" with a huge smile.

Even though she's just a baby, she recognizes that this man is the one who is going to protect her, love her, and take care of her.

I thought about how my brother and sister-in-law must have felt when she said that for the first time. Excited. Thrilled. Happy. Bursting with love and pride.

It must be a small fraction of how God must feel when we come to Him to be our "Daddy God." He wants us, His children, to know that we can trust Him to protect, provide, love and take care of us all the days of our lives, no matter the circumstances or situations we may find ourselves in.

In Biblical Hebrew, I learned, ab is the word for father. In Aramaic, abba is derived from baby-langauge and means Daddy.

Abba, the transliteration (a transcription from one alphabet to another) of the Aramaic word into Greek, shows up three times in the New Testament: Mark 14:36, Galatians 4:6, and Romans 8: 15.

In the New Testament, Jesus introduces us to God as our Father in a whole new and intimate way. Jesus wants us to know a Father who will never leave us or forsake us; who will never harm us, and will never let us go.

Claiming God as our Abba can be a difficult experience from a human standpoint.

First off, we tend to think of God as a Father in the same way we do an earthly father.

If a father is or was non-existent or distant in or lives; or if a father sinned against his own child(ren), then it's especially hard to see God the Father as Abba.

As humans, we must gain a new perspective on the intimate relationship God the Father truly wants with each of us. We should not be comparing our earthly relationships with fathers to the relationship God truly desires with us. 

Secondly, it's far too easy to fall into a pattern of complacency, comfort, and contentment with our everyday lives and routines. This will oftentimes unintentionally leave God out on the fringes, leading us to become blind to our need for Him to be Daddy.

It's almost always during life's trials that we really come to a realization of what it means to have God be our Abba.

When we come to Him at our lowest point, God truly does reveal Himself and come through as our provider, protector, comforter, etc. if we just ask Him and trust Him.

Jesus wants us to know what it's like to have such a wonderful relationship with a loving father in God.

We are His children. And because of that, we have a right to claim God as our Abba and to enjoy His perfect love, no matter if life is good or bad at the moment. 

Let the cry of your spirit be, "Daddy, Abba, I desperately need you."

Let Him be your everything. Let Him be your perfect Dad.