I have such fond memories of time spent with my dad while I was growing up.  The two of us in his rusty, green pick up truck, heading out to my grandpa’s farm to cut down a tree and bring it home to heat our log house.  My favorite part was when he would signal break time and then proceed to pull out a thermos of hot chocolate and a candy bar to split, usually a Hershey’s chocolate bar with almonds.  We’d sit and enjoy our snack as well as the break from the hum of the chainsaw.  Sometimes we’d chat but usually we just sat there in the silence, enjoying each other’s company and the smell of the crisp air mixed with freshly cut wood shavings.

I am incredibly blessed to still have both my parents living and in really great health.  Now my children get to create sweet memories of lazy days spent on my parent’s dock, catching fish and sipping sun tea in their bare feet in the same place that formed me into the woman I am today.  It honestly makes me ache to think about there ever being a time when I won’t have my father here to invest in my life or to teach my children how to properly clean a fish.  But I know that life is  precious, and his physical presence in my life is not a guarantee.

I’m so thankful that I can depend on the eternal and everlasting presence, love and wisdom of my heavenly Father.  Isaiah 40:28 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.”(NIV)

Even the most amazing fathers will grow tired from time to time.  Just ask my kids.  They will be the first to tell you what a great dad they have but they will also let you know that Sunday afternoons equal dad’s nap time.   After a long weekend of running three church services, their pastor daddy is tired.  He grows weary.

How comforting it is to know that we can rest our cares, our anxious thoughts, our tired hearts, in God’s loving arms.  We can rest in the knowledge that, regardless of how our earthly father feels about us, we are seen, known and loved by the Creator of the universe.  Some of us have had amazing earthly fathers like mine, while others have suffered terribly at the hands of those who were supposed to love and protect us.  But regardless of how our earthly fathers have been, we are infinitely loved by our heavenly Father.  He sees us as we are, loves us regardless and desires to have a relationship with us.  And when we accept his love for us, we are held together by a love that is beyond our understanding. A love that does not grow tired or weary.  An everlasting love that comes from an everlasting father.

A prayer:  Thank you, Father, that You are a perfect example of everlasting love.  We come to You today in need of that love.  Take us in Your arms and speak words of comfort and hope over us today.  We grow tired and weary, but You never do.  Renew our strength today as we wait on You.