We are designed by God, I believe, to discover him first through our parents. As infants, our parents represent our physical, emotional, and spiritual universe, reflecting onto us our earliest perceptions and images—how safe is my world? What is trust and truth, comfort and consistency, warmth and wisdom? Sons and daughters look to each parent for specific needs; for sons, fathers are our heroes. In a spiritual sense, our parents represent our first impression of God.
However, sometimes our earthly fathers (and mothers) don’t live up to the godly role model. Maybe you have or had an awesome dad with whom you had a great relationship. On the other hand, maybe your dad wasn’t all that, or maybe the relationships are more complicated. What is our response on Father’s Day? I think our response is to accept our dads for what (and who) they are.
Those who’ve had loving fathers can appreciate and understand them as a gift to us from God and to plant seeds of hope and faith by letting them know how much we appreciate their unique contribution to our lives. If we’ve not experienced a father’s love and protection, then maybe we pray for them, asking God’s help, trusting that forgiveness, possibly even reconciliation is possible, perhaps even desirable.
Either way, we trust our Heavenly Father to work all things together for our good, and whether our dads are a positive force in our lives or not, we can pray God’s blessing and redeeming love over them, knowing we can depend on our Heavenly Father above all else!