Full Access to the Father

I’m a big U2 fan. I’ve followed the band for years and have been to many concerts, singing out from the front row with all the other exuberant fans. Once I even got to meet Bono, the band’s lead singer. It was a quick interaction that entailed a signature on my sweatshirt and an “Enjoy the show,” with that unmistakable Northern Irish accent.

Afterward, I told my husband I wished I had more time—that I’d said something meaningful rather than freezing in starstruck awe. I imagined a long conversation over dinner with the band . . . or even just a one-hour interview to go deeper.

“What if we had full access to the band?” my husband said, interrupting my musings.

He did always dream big. 

I think about the idea of “full access” when it comes to being a child of God. Oh, how easy it is to forget the profound blessings of being in God’s family. And one of those precious benefits is that we have an intimate relationship with God the Father: We have full access to him. Just pause on that for a moment. You have a staggeringly close relationship with the God who made the universe—the God who created the sun and moon, and the God who made you.

This is mind bending! And when we begin to understand the implications of what it means that we have full access to our heavenly Father, it’s also life-altering and changes everything about how we live.

The Father Who Invites Us into Intimacy

God is not distant from or disinterested in his children. He might seem far away when we’re walking through hardship, but when we feel distance from God, it is not that he has gone away. it may mean that we have chosen to step out of the intimate relationship. We could be pulling away from him and don’t even realize it. In our joy, in our sadness, and even in our questioning, our heavenly Father welcomes his children with open arms—always and forever.

This means, friend, that you do not need to be hindered by shame, past wounds, or a broken earthly father experience. If you are in Christ, nothing restricts your access to God. You can run to him with confidence in whatever state you are in and with whatever emotions you may be experiencing. You are not merely tolerated by God; you are treasured by him, and he wants the kind of honest relationship with us that we also long for.

When I was younger, my father was a pastor, and there was often a line to talk with him after the service. But no matter how many people vied for his attention, when I started run toward him, he would stop the conversation, turn and bend down with open arms. This is the picture of an intimate relationship with your Abba, Father. Run to him and know that he is always there with open arms.

The Father Who Sustains and Transforms Us

The intimacy that we long for will deepen as we abide in our Father, and as we abide, we are spiritually sustained and transformed.  

To abide in God is to stay close—to seek God in prayer, Scripture, and worship, and it’s doing these things even when we don’t feel like it. The reality is that our souls were created to thirst for God, and nothing else can ultimately satisfy us. When facing trials, the temptation is to turn from God or to disconnect from the fellowship of believers because of weariness, bitterness, or confusion.

And yet, the path toward healing is led by our Savior. We need him to walk through the peaks and valleys of this life. In God’s kindness, he often uses the fellowship of believers to help us along that path. They are tangible expressions of his comfort when we’re in need and of his delight in seasons of joy.

Abide in him. Lean into your Father and know that the striving for connection with him is not in vain. Closeness with the Lord produces spiritual stability, nourishment, and fruit that cannot be manufactured through self-effort. Only a life rooted in God bears lasting joy, strength, and growth.

The Father Who Delights in and Cares for His Children

Full access to our heavenly Father is incomparable to any closeness we might have with another on this earth. Earthly emotions wane. Our closest confidants can, even momentarily, become our fiercest enemies. And acquaintances may forget our name.

But God’s heart is not reluctant or dismissive; he loves us so much that he rejoices over us, and he loves us so consistently that he remains a sure and steady anchor in life’s storms.

Zephaniah 3:17 says that God delights in you with such joy that he breaks out into exuberant song. I think of the spontaneous moments when the Doxology has unabashedly spilled from my lips: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!” This is the kind of delight your Father has in you: He cannot help but sing over you with what I imagine is a boisterous and awe-inspiring voice.  

But not only does he rejoice over you with gladness, Zephaniah 3 also tells us that God quiets us with his love. His strength is tender, and he invites us to throw our burdens onto him because he cares deeply. Don’t put a stiff arm in the face of God when troubles come, but run to him with confidence, abide in him with his strength, and cry out to him knowing that he is as close as your breath.

When I think back on that moment with Bono, I still smile, and not because I said anything profound, but because for a brief second, I had access to someone I admired. And yet, how small that moment is compared to the daily, constant, unbreakable access I have to God. I don’t need to stand in line. I don’t need the perfect words. I don’t need an invitation.

My Father already knows me, sees me, and delights in me, and he says with delight, “Come, my child.”

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