I was such a “Daddy’s Girl,” that Father’s Day has carried with it a shadow of sorrow since my earthly father moved to Heaven in 1996 when he was only 58 years old. He was such a good Daddy! He loved God with all his being, sacrificially loved my mom and our family, and spread the love & joy of the Lord to all he met. It’s been 26 1/2 years since he has been gone, and I still miss him terribly.
I’m so grateful that God has given us James Walker to celebrate on this day! He is the wise and loving father to our children that my Daddy was to us. To be honest though, if I’m not careful to keep my heart focused on trusting God’s goodness and sovereignty, Father’s Day can still be a bit sad for me when I start to think about my Daddy and miss what I think “should have been.”
But then, I remember the last thing Daddy told Mom to pass on to us: “Whatever happens is right… because God doesn’t make mistakes.” I think he knew he wouldn’t live much longer and left us with this truth to help us through the hard times that were sure to come.
The truth is that God did not leave us without a father’s love. Just as promised in Psalm 68:5, GOD has been a Father to us and a Protector and Husband to my mom. Over these years without my earthly daddy present, my True Father has been such a good Daddy to me, and He has transformed this day and restored my joy.
If you are missing the Daddy-man in your life, especially if this is your first Father’s Day without him, I am praying for you as I re-read and re-affirm my trust in our Heavenly Daddy, who doesn’t make mistakes. May He be ever so close to you, and may He reveal Himself to you this weekend in a special Abba-Father type of way.
How the Father has transformed my “Father’s Day”
Over the past 26 Father’s Days without my dad, the Lord has done the sweetest thing for me.
Most every morning of the year I study a “Name of God/Jesus/Holy Spirit.” I have a long list with hundreds of names, and I just work my way down the list one by one. It’s like opening a gift from God every day as I discover WHO He will be to me for the day. (See this post for a list of the “My” Names of Jesus. So comforting!!!)
Somehow, every Father’s Day week or weekend, in God’s gracious and sovereign timing, I just “happen” to be in a name of God/Jesus/Holy Spirit that reminds me I DO still have a Daddy here… and He is everything I need a Daddy to be.
One year, the name of Jesus next on the list was “Wisdom from God” from 1 Cor. 1:30. Especially when I was younger, I longed to pick up the phone and ask Daddy what he thought about this or that… but Jesus IS the Wisdom from God (revealing God’s plan of salvation, sanctification, and redemption), and I always have Him to talk to about everything. My Father’s Wisdom can help me put everything in it’s proper order and bring lasting me Peace. I’m SO grateful!
This whole past week I just “happened” to be in the “Father” names of God – and it’s been so much fun to look up all of the verses connected with each of those names and savor them. I’ve taken notes on who God is in the verses, what that trait means to my life, and how I am to respond to Him because He is that Name. My heart has been challenged, blessed, and renewed by my Good, Good Abba Father.
If you are needing to be reminded of what a good Daddy you have, I encourage you to spend some time doing what I did this week, steeping yourself in the Truths from the verses below.
The Daddy-names of God
Do you need to know that God is your Good Father today? Check out these Names and Truths:
- Abba – Romans 8:15
- Father – Isaiah 9:6
- The Father – 1 John 3:1
- Father of Compassion – 2 Corinthians 1:3
- Father of Our Spirits – Hebrews 12:9
- The Father of Mercies – 2 Cor. 1:3
- Father of the Heavenly Lights – James 1:17
- Father of our Lord Jesus Christ – Romans 15:6; 2 Cor. 1:3, 11:31; Ephesians 3:14, Colosians 1:3;
1 Peter 1:3 - Father to the Fatherless – Psalm 68:5
- The Father of Glory – Ephesians 1:17
- God of all Comfort – 2 Corinthians 1:3
- God of the Living – Matthew 22:32
- God our Father – Colossians 1:2
- Helper of the Fatherless – Psalm 10:14
- Holy Father – John 17:11
- Keeper – Isaiah 27:3
- My Benefactor – Psalm 71:6
- My Support – 2 Samuel 22:19
- Righteous Father – John 17:25
- The Glorious Father – Ephesians 1:17
- My Intercessor – Hebrews 7:25
- Shield – Psalm 28:7
- Source of Life – Acts 3:15
- Wonderful Counselor – Isaiah 9:6
- The One Who Speaks – Hebrews 12:25
- Spirit of Sonship (Adoption) – Romans 8:15
It’s such a gift to be reminded of this. What a wonderful Abba Father we all have! I love Him so!!!
A caution about a human father :
Because my dad was such a wise, unselfish, patient, and loving father, it has been easy for me to believe that God the Father is wise, unselfish, patient, and loving. But I realize that many didn’t have a dad like mine, which makes intimacy with and trust in our Heavenly Father a little more difficult to accept.
Whether we had the best or the worst earthly dad, or whether our dads are present or not, we all have a Father we can celebrate this weekend: Our Heavenly Daddy.
He loves us, provides for us, walks with us, laughs and cries with us, rejoices over us, carries our burdens for us, and He even laid down His life for ours.
He keeps His promises, and He will NEVER leave us… no matter what! He is the Father to the fatherless.
He is the Daddy we all dream of having.
As great as our earthly dads are, they are still human. None of them are perfect. But God the Father is.
And my friends, we need to release God from being bound in our minds and hearts by the faults and failures of our earthly dads. God is NOT like man. Man will fail us. God will not.
God’s Word promises:
“You are the helper of the fatherless.” Psalm 10:14 (NIV)
“Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.” Psalm 27:10 (NLT)
“Father of orphans, champion of widows, is God in his holy house.” Psalm 68:5 (Msg)
You, LORD, are our Father. We are nothing but clay, but you are the potter who molded us. Isaiah 64:8 (CEV)
If this is a sad weekend for you or someone you love:
If this is a sad weekend for you or someone you love, may the Father, our Abba Daddy, remind you of who you have in Him. So when you awake on Father’s Day morning, whether you get to say it to anyone else in your life, you can open your eyes with a smile and tell your Perfect Daddy – the One who will never leave nor forsake you, “Happy Father’s Day!” 🙂
My precious parents, Gilbert and Mary Crawford. Daddy got really sick on the day our son was born, and ten weeks later, he was with Jesus. But as he taught us, God doesn’t make mistakes. We learned to love and trust God by watching our parents love and trust Him. It’s a legacy we pray our children inherited from us so they can pass it along to their children. Happy Heavenly Father’s Day to Abba God my Father, and to Gilbert, my dad.
