Your dad may have died, or your children’s dad may have disappointed you, but on this Father’s Day remember your heavenly Father. For He is more than enough, and He will never let you down.
As a child, I grew up under the strong hand of a wonderful, loving and godly father. (Sometimes I felt his hand was a bit stronger than necessary, but looking back, I can see why he had to be so firm with me.) Whenever Father’s Day came around, I was always happy to either make or buy a card for him, give him a token of my love and make his day special. It was a day I looked forward to.
As an adult, I appreciated Daddy even more and, with a husband and family of my own, came to understand more fully the need to be firm but loving. When we moved to Florida years ago, it seemed that Arkansas (Daddy’s home) was continents away from ours. We spoke on the phone quite often but were able to see each other only a couple of times a year.
When Daddy died, I felt alone. Although I had a husband and family, there was nothing like having my daddy to talk to. I knew he loved me no matter what my faults or failures were and always wanted the best for me.
Even after Daddy was gone, I still loved Father’s Day. It was always a special day in our home. I enjoyed watching our three daughters make or buy cards and gifts for their daddy. We would fix his favorite foods and make him “King for a Day.”
But there was always that longing for my own daddy, especially on Father’s Day.
About two years after my daddy’s death as we were preparing for Christmas my husband left me and the girls for another woman. I thought I would die. With my father gone and now my husband, I felt abandoned and found myself desiring even more to talk to my daddy.
Just six months later, on the Saturday before Father’s Day, our heavenly Father saw my desire and met it in a powerful way.
My soon-to-be ex-husband was coming over to see the girls for Father’s Day. I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom, wrapping gifts for him and crying out to the Lord.
“What about me,” I sobbed, “and what about my children?”
I felt His presence in the room, and He directed me to read Isaiah 54. I had no clue what that particular chapter was about before I turned to it. I read that the woman who was once “wooed and won” in her youth and scorned in later years is not truly alone because the Lord, her Maker, is her Husband (see vv. 5-6, AMP). The passage also says that her children will be taught of the Lord, that they will take the nations and that their peace will be great (see vv. 3,13).
From that moment on, I knew the girls and I would be fine. The Father has proved Himself time and time again and has become whom He promised He would be to us.
Father’s Day is still a delight, though it’s not about my daddy or about my girls’ daddy. I celebrate every Father’s Day with joy, knowing that our precious heavenly Father is more than enough. He can’t go back on His word or disappoint us. I am overwhelmed by His goodness and will always be His delight, His “little girl.”
On this Father’s Day and every day, I thank Him, from the bottom of my heart, for being my Father.
PRAYER POWER FOR THE WEEK OF 6/10/2013
Thank the Lord this week for His faithfulness as a Father to the fatherless, and that He’s promised to never leave or forsake us. Ask Him to raise up fathers in the church to love, nurture, instruct and guide those in need of a father’s blessing. Ask Him to turn the hearts of the fathers toward their children and the children toward their fathers. Thank Him for the church fathers He has used through the years to establish our heritage. Pray for single fathers who are raising their children without a spouse to share the love and responsibility for their upbringing. Continue to pray about the disintegration of the family unit in our land, and ask God to restore foundations both in and out of the church. Remember those who have suffered great loss through recent storms and ask the Lord how to bless them. Psalm 68:5-6; Proverbs 17:6; Isa. 54:13
