Once a year we celebrate our fathers. If you have a wonderful dad, that's great. But for some of us, there is no celebration.
We all have dads but some are missing. Some are dead. Others have never been in our lives. Some only intermittently. Others have been a disappointment, even a terror in our lives. Some, we may not even want to see again. For some, dads mean heartache and irreconcilable differences. Some may even hate their dads.
Relationships can be complicated, emotional, full of meaning, words unsaid, words that can't be taken back, complicated back-stories, misinterpretations, unfulfilled longings, envy, comparisons to other dads or the perfect dad.
Do you know we have a perfect dad? You may have heard of the Lord's Prayer. It starts with "Our Father which art in heaven..." (Luke 11:2). You have a dad who lives in heaven. But heaven is way up there! No, we can enter his throne room every day.
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). When you are in trouble, you can come boldly to the Lord of the universe and ask for help, mercy and grace.
In the greatest short story ever told (Luke 15:11-32), the story of the Prodigal Son, the rich, generous, compassionate, loving, forgiving father searches for his wayward son every day. He scans the horizon every day hoping his son will come home. And when he does, the father runs down the street, grabs his son, gives him a hug, welcomes him back to the household, and prepares a huge feast for him.
No matter what your relationship with your human father, you have a loving perfect heavenly Father (I John 4:8).
Some adopted people spend considerable time, money and emotional investment searching for their biological family. Do you know your spiritual family, your heavenly Father, your spiritual brothers and sisters?
At this time of year, many young people are graduating, spreading their wings, looking for new horizons. But on the spiritual horizon, your heavenly Father is always looking for you.
