The Grace of Fathers

In honor of this Father’s Day weekend, I want to share part of my testimony in hopes of others finding it helpful.

First, my parents are amazing. They took my siblings and me to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and every other event between. They also discussed God’s Word a LOT in the home and set Godly examples for us. I came to know Christ at a young age and had a passion for learning about Him and wanting to please Him. As I got into middle-high school, I became very judgmental, and I’d tell people exactly what I thought about their sinfulness. Shame, shame, shame.

Along the way, I slipped into sinfulness myself. At first it was a slow slip, until life got hard, then it became a quick plunge. I found myself in Adam and Eve’s shoes. God knew about all of my sin, and I was trying to hide from Him. I didn’t want to face Him, and I continued to make decisions that defied everything that was true to who I was and what I knew to be right and good.

I also tried to hide this side of myself from my parents. I’m sure they could tell I wasn’t myself, and eventually they knew for sure how far I’d fallen. At that point, they had a decision to make. I’ll always be grateful for the decision they made, and it impacts the way I see the world and make decisions for myself still.

Daddy called me home and sat me down. He discussed some of the things they had observed and how they knew these behaviors were not good for me. He could have told me he was disappointed in me. He could have questioned how I could stray so far from the way they had raised me. He could have taken a number of actions, but this is what he said:

“I know you’re struggling and you’re trying to run from God and from me. But you can decide to run to us. We can’t help you if you run from us, so run to us and let us help you.”

All my life I’d been taught about God’s grace. In that moment, I experienced it in a way that opened my eyes to it.

Since that time, I’ve wondered about those years in my life and WHY? Now I understand that I needed to experience grace in order to understand how to give it out.

I think one of the greatest things a father on this earth can hope to accomplish is to be a glimpse of our Heavenly Father to his children. My dad has done that for me in many ways over my lifetime, and I’m so thankful for him.

And if you find yourself trying to hide from God or run from Him in shame, turn around. Run to Him. You will find His arms open wide and grace greater than all your sins.

It’s a beautiful place to find yourself. I know. I’ve been there.

Happy Father’s Day to all of the Godly dads out there trying to point your children to Christ. Your efforts will mean more to them one day than you can imagine.