Remembering Our Fathers

This week I will be spending much of my time getting ready to celebrate Father's day at my home with extended family. It is always a happy, yet sad, time for me since my own father is living far across the globe in the asian lands of Korea. I do rejoice in the fact that there are many good, godly fathers around me---such as my husband, my father-in-law, brother-in-law's, and the men at church. These men are God-fearing, hard-working, courageous, brave, self-sacrificing and humble. They are willing to stand and fight for what is right---for women and children and gives their lives for us, our freedoms and comforts. Their hearts are driven to build God's church, their desire to see revival for His glory.

Here's a poem I found:

A Little Girl Needs a Daddy

A little girl needs Daddy
For many, many things:
Like holding her high off the ground
Where the sunlight sings!

Like being the deep music
That tells her all is right
When she awakens frantic with
The terrors of the night.

Like being the great mountain
That rises in her heart
And shows her how she might get home
When all else falls apart.

Like giving her the love
That is her sea and air,
So diving deep or soaring high
She'll always find him there.

I understand that not everyone has a perfect relationship with their father, and this day actually stirs up feelings of bitterness, hopelessness or anger---you are not alone. Fathers are imperfect---sinners---like the rest of us. Perhaps you were wronged, abused or even abandoned.

Then I must point you to my heavenly Father---the Father who" is father to the fatherless" (Ps 68:5) and will "never leave you or forsake you" (Deut. 31:8) and whom "binds up the hearts of the broken-hearted" (Ps 147:3) He is the perfect father you have been looking for all your life. He is the one who will fill that empty void in your soul. He is the one who will carry you when life gets tough. He is the one who will love you when you are unlovable and alone. He knows you and every strand of hair on your head. He knows what you will say before you say it and most importantly, the deep recesses of your heart. He gave the ultimate sacrifice of His Son to die for you so that you would be forgiven and their would be nothing between you and Him. His love for you is deeper than any sea or higher than any mountain--it is absolutely immeasurable.

So as we go about remembering our earthly fathers this week, let us take the time to honor, revere and encourage them as they take their place in God's dominion. And as for the ones who have fallen short, let us pray for them and forgive them, knowing that the Lord holds their hearts in His hands and because they need the Heavenly Father just as much as we do......and thankfully, many of us have found Him.

(Click here to read how we honored fatherhood last year.)