I'd been cruising through FB the last couple of days and had lost count of the number of posts I had seen by friends praising all the wonderful qualities of their dads or husbands, usually accompanied the smiling faces of the men and their children. I was going to do a post myself, but never got around to it. (such has been my life as of late) Now before you get the wrong idea, I think it's wonderful that these children/wives, honored their dads/husbands this way, but I was also keenly aware of the pain Father's Day day might be bringing some.
I thought about the friend who had just lost her husband and the pain her children would be experiencing as they celebrated their first Father's Day without their dad. I thought about those I know who's father's have been absent most of their lives, or abusive or were so involved in other things, that being a dad wasn't really a priority.. .For many people Father's Day was a painful reminder of what they didn't or don't have.
Then I was reminded of scripture
Those who follow Christ have a heavenly Father, one who is faithful, loving, merciful and just. He is always there to listen when you want to talk, he knows your heart, he knows your needs and desires. He will never leave you or forsake you...he will never fail you.
I enjoyed honoring the father's yesterday, what a blessing it is to have dads that are invested in their families and take seriously the role of father, but to those that this is not a reality, remember our Heavenly Father...we are told he is a Father to the fatherless, he can fill that void
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God"
1John 3:1
"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling" Psalm 68:5
"I will be a father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty"
2 Corinthians 6:18
