I know something about a father’s love, having had a father who loved me when I was a young child. I loved his attention, sought his approval and truly believe he loved me. I had three brothers who also wanted part of him, so I had to share. Every now and then, my father would take me with him to visit one of his friends. I really enjoyed having him all to myself for a short period of time. When I think of a father’s love, I think of those special times.
At different times during my childhood, I remember my mom was admitted to the hospital and my brothers and I went to live with my grandparents. Mom suffered from depression and in those days, that meant a stay in a mental hospital. My grandmother didn’t like my father and I couldn’t understand why. After a while Mom would be released and my father would take us to live in another town and a new life. It seemed like my father could do anything he wanted to do, but in part because of my mother’s sickness, he didn’t stay long in one place. At the last place he moved us to, he had applied to be a Fireman and they made him the Fire Chief. Yes, it was a small town, but it was an important position. It seemed we had it made.
As I got older, I discovered my father wasn’t perfect. My parents would often quarrel and my Mom would accuse him of cheating on her. I didn’t understand it all back then, but it seemed like my father loved someone else more than he did us. How could he choose another woman because mom is sick? Eventually my parents divorced and my world fell apart. My father left us and I went from being the son of the Fire Chief to a welfare kid.
I remember my father stopping by the shabby house we had moved into. He didn’t visit after he married another wife and my mother tried to kill herself. I don’t remember seeing my father when my brothers and I were split up and sent to different Foster Homes. After a few years he wanted me to move in with him and his new family, but I went to live with my grandmother instead. A few months later I returned to one of the Foster Homes to finish high school.
Maybe that is why I love “Our Father who art in heaven” (Mat 6:9 NAS) so much. He not only loves me now, He planned for my future from the foundations of the Earth. Instead of failing me when I needed help, He “gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). Instead of looking for a better deal in someone else, He sacrificed so I can become part of His family!
You don’t have to worry about Him leaving when you need Him most. You can rest assure “of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6 KJV). “I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come…Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39 KJV). You see, our “Our Father who art in Heaven” is perfect and so is His love for us. Accept that love and you too can become part of His family forever!
Wayne Lance