Sunday, June 20, 2010

Father to the Fatherless

“Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds — his name is the LORD— and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”

In 1987 my world was rocked by divorce.  My dad didn't really stay involved - he went off and did his own thing, separate from my life.  We didn't go to church much, in fact his 'visitation' time was Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.  And when we did start going to church I really really struggled with God ... Father?  

Are you serious?  My picture was one of abandonment - how could "God the Father" really be loving and involved in my life when my only ideas of a father didn't quite go along with those traits.  Then, during the summer of 1999 I heard a woman give her testimony before she was baptized ... we'd been in church maybe a year and I was entering high school.  Her words were simple, but I could connect with them.  She said that she had decided God was HER FATHER since she really didn't have an earthly father who was involved in her life.  It was simple and something I knew, but I just needed to hear it from someone who had been there.  God crossed our paths that day to remind me that HE was my FATHER.

My dad died on Father's Day 2002 - it's been eight years ago now, but still seems like yesterday.  It was two weeks before I left for South Africa and two weeks after I turned 18.  Ready to enter my senior year of high school I faced the reality that my earthly father would never see graduations or grandkids - yet my Heavenly Father would lead me through all of lifes events.

Father's Day now is a little different - its a reminder of my dad - maybe one I would have overlooked had he not died on the actual day AND a reminder that there are people everywhere in my same situation and to them I want to say those simple words... GOD IS YOUR FATHER and He is loving caring and involved ... maybe not the picture you have of Him based on your earthly father.

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