Tag: heavenly father

Andrew was just a toddler when he was rushed by ambulance to a hospital 125 miles away. The cause of his persistent high fever had stumped the local doctors. Within a day he had been diagnosed with Kawasaki’s Syndrome, a rare disease.

As part of the treatment, they placed our boy under an oxygen tent to keep him cool, something that he was too young to understand. He was afraid. As parents it was difficult to watch him cry and reach out to us and not be able to hold him.

We neither one could resist; our son wanted us… needed us. One at a time, we would crawl under the oxygen tent and into bed with him. We held him and reassured him until he was ready to come home a week later.

If we, as fallible human parents, possess the irresistible urge to treat our children with such loving care, can we ever begin to imagine the loving care of our perfect Heavenly Father?

Reach out to Him, and he will comfort you and hold you.

Fear Not. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

I only vaguely remember my father. He died when I was about six years old. What I remember is good, in spite of moving about seven times in my first six years. My stepdad was a louse. Not because he was my stepdad. Actually, as a child, I genuinely loved him. A decade ago, when I came to terms with the abuse I endured at his hands, both directly and indirectly… Well, I have forgiven him, but I now realize I didn’t love him. He made me codependent.

I say that to say this: I didn’t learn what a good dad is until years later. Because of that, I could only imagine the nature of a good Heavenly Father.

In speaking to a friend today who is a new Christian, I discovered he was riddled with guilt about sins that he struggles with. I had to remind him of how proud he was when his child was a newborn, learning to smile, learning to make eye contact, learning to hold up her head, then roll over, crawl, and finally walk. He agreed. Those were proud moments.

I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is just as proud of us as we enter His Kingdom as newborn children of God.

I’ve felt the warmth of His smile and the security of His arms. And, I’ve seen Him encourage me and laugh at my first steps.

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

– 1 John 3:1

Fear Not 365 – Draw Near to God

He’s a Good, Good Father