Father’s Day
All of her life she had known that he was somewhere out there? Her mother had raised her without his help. He wasn’t absent though. He took off when he found out her mother was pregnant. She had lived a good life. She seemed to be well adjusted. Her mother had eventually gotten married, and her step-father was a pretty nice guy.
And yet through the years, she felt their was something missing. She had a longing for his presence. She wondered what he was like. She wondered if he ever thought about her. After all, she was his daughter. He was her father.
Now she was old enough to find out who he was. She could contact him and let him know all about her. She could reach out to him and let him know that she couldn’t wait to meet him. She had dreamed about the day they would finally connect and begin a relationship. And finally she acted on it. She wrote a letter expressing her feelings, sharing her desire to meet. She put the stamp on the letter and hopefully slipped it into the mail. And then she waited… and waited.
She sat on the couch in tears, uncontrollable tears. She was once again holding in her hands the letter she had mailed to her father, the man she had longed for all of her life. It had come back to her in the mail with those dreaded words written across the front: Return to sender. Her biological father had denied her letter, and rejected her once again in the process. The ache would continue, but now it was only deeper. There was a man out that who was her father, but he had made it abundantly clear that he wanted nothing to do with her.
The following story was the plot line from a tv show I once saw. It was a very emotional story to see this girl’s hopes crushed. You could almost feel her rejection as she held the letter in her hands and cried.
My thoughts turned to the spiritual parallels. I think many people imagine God is similar to this father. Perhaps you have lived much of your life separated from God. Maybe your life has been good, but inside you have sensed something is missing. There is a presence out there somewhere that you were made to connect with. And yet deep down there might be some fear. Perhaps you think that if you reach out to God, He will reject your prayers and send them back with a big “return to sender” sign. Maybe you feel that God really wants nothing to do with you.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. The whole bible is the story of God’s pursuit of people like you and me – people who have been separated and disconnected from God due to our sin. The truth is that God is the one who is seeking for us.
Jesus said, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him” (Matthew 7:11
). Jesus was contrasting earthly father’s with our Heavenly Father. Most earthly fathers will meet the needs of and show goodness to their children. And yet this can’t even begin to compare with the goodness of God the Father. His goodness far surpasses any human parent. He does not reject those who see their need and truly reach out to Him.
We will celebrate our father’s this Sunday. It is their big day where we let them know we love them. Perhaps it is time for you to reconnect with your Heavenly Father as well. He is waiting for you. He will not reject you. He will not send back your prayers with a “return to sender.” If you reach out to Him, it will make His Father’s day. And that’s the Word.
