Today leaves a void for many, whether that is physically, emotionally, or spiritually. For some that void is mourned, especially if a good and loved father has died. For others, it’s the unmet longing for their physical dad to be a spiritual dad also, to be counted among the redeemed children of God. For others, the void is emotional, a dad who isn’t there, who isn’t good, who isn’t who he should be; and that can bring a wide range of emotions. Thankful that one is no longer under his abuse or ramifications of his addictions. Happy to be able to be at a distance so one can heal and live a freely whole life in peace. But perhaps also sad, that no, not even a shadow of a, good or healthy relationship or any relationship at all can be had with him.
Regardless of which it is, this is a day that the yatom would prefer to ignore. The day they see others celebrating good dads, that they don’t have.
Perhaps you, or your children, are feeling alone, left out today. You are not! And it has nothing to do with your earthly father.
Yatom means fatherless, and its root is in the word lonely, alone. But with God, we know we are never alone. God has much good and comforting to say about you, the yatom.
The most straightforward is that He Himself is the Abba to the yatom, the Father to the fatherless. He is the good, good Father. The one who never abuses or abandons. The One Who is always there. Always listens. Always loves. Always cares.
- Psalm 68:5 – A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.
The passage of Scripture that this ministry, freely whole, is based on is Psalm 146. It speaks of the Yatom. But several other scriptures do also. They speak of not only how God feels about the yatom, but also about how His people are to treat the yatom.
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! While I live I will praise the LORD; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD gives freedom to the prisoners. The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The LORD shall reign forever—Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD! ~ Psalm 146
If you are Yatom, spend some time today reframing. Changing the way you see this. See God as your loving caring Abba, who is always with you. If you are Yatom because of abuse, abandonment, or addiction, spend today, not thinking about the earthly male who is not an Abba to you, but about the heavenly Abba you have.
Below are some scriptures on the Yatom for you to read, meditate on, and maybe even creatively journal, like I am!
- Deut. 10:18 – He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow …
- Deut. 27: 19 – Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.’ “And all the people shall say. ‘Amen!’
- Psalm 10:14b – You are the helper of the fatherless.
- Psalm 10:18 – To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may appress no more.
- Psalm 68:5 – A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.
- Psalm 82:3 – Defend the poor and fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and needy.
- Psalm146:9 – The Lord watches over the stranger; He relieves the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down.
- Isa 1:17 – Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow
Living Coram Deo & freely whole
SDG!
~ Liberty
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