by alphao – www. sxc.hu

Happy Father’s Day!

I am thankful for my grandfathers, my father, and father-in-law.  These men have demonstrated biblical manhood to me and taught me so much.

Each Father’s day, I also reflect upon God as my father.  I want to share a story today from Philip Yancey in his book Disappointment with God.  It is an excellent book.  He concludes the book with this story in a long format (pg. 286-288).  I will shorten it and make an application from the story.

The Story

Philip Yancey’s father had polio and survived by being in an iron lung.  He contracted it when Philip was just 10 months old and would die 3 months later. Only his mother could see him in the hospital, as children were not allowed in the polio ward.   Once, while going through some family collectibles with his mother, he discovered an old worn and wrinkled picture of him as an infant.  He asked his mother, why she had kept such a tattered photo.  She explained that his father desired pictures of him, his brother, and her.  This was the one of him, that had been fixed to the iron lung, for the last months of his life, he set staring at these pictures for his entire day.   Philip never knew his father and his father never really knew him, yet his father for days just stared at him.  He wondered what his dad thought while staring at their pictures.  How do you express love to someone you can’t touch, hold, or speak?  He imagined his dad dreamed, prayed, and cried looking at their pictures.

The Application

This touching story of a father’s love hits close to me.  First, it reminds me of how blessed I am to be able to watch my kids grow and develop.  Second, It connects with my love and pride I feel for my kids. You have such love and dreams for them as a father.  Third and most importantly, this story is an illustration of the love of God.  God is there watching and loving.  For so many lost and wandering souls, God is there watching, loving, and desiring their repentance and reciprocal love, yet they live like He doesn’t exist.  Whether we know it or not, He is there watching.  He loves us more than we can know.   We may not always understand why bad and even evil things happen in our lives, but we can know we have a Heavenly Father who prizes our love, has big dreams for us, and watches our comings and goings!  Personally it does my heart good to think of God from heaven above watching over me like an earthly father prizes the picture of an infant he can’t touch or hold.

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Note:  Please don’t take my illustration too far, I am not saying God is limited, sick, or incapable of acting toward us like the father in the iron lung.  It is just an illustration, where a part of the story fits the truth of God’s love and paternal care.