Are You Shocked?

My husband received a precious piece of mail a few weeks back.
It was from our grandson Ethan.
He has recently finished the second grade and one of his last assignments was posting a letter in the mail. My husband was tickled. As sweet as that letter was to him, we didn’t know the whole story…


You see, the very day Ethan wrote that letter, sealed it and placed it in the mailbox is the very day my husband sent him a video telling him how proud he was of Ethan and all the great things he had planned for him that summer. They were the exact things Ethan asked about in his letter, a letter my husband had not received yet, much less read.


When my daughter told me this story I immediately thought of my Heavenly Father, and I couldn’t help thinking about Father’s Day and how important the role of a daddy is.


Daddies, and even their daddies create imprints of their Heavenly Father on their children and grandchildren’s hearts.
Someday they might base their trust, protection, comfort, and most important~ love ~ on how they received it from their earthly father. That’s pretty huge. They will look at approaching God in the same way they could go to their daddy when they were little.


It should be in awe, but never fear.


How a daddy acts and reacts is a continual lesson in their little hearts to how they will one day believe God will act or react to them.


And so, I read Ethan’s letter again. The sweet things he asked of his Bapa were answered before they were ever asked.
What a beautiful picture of our Father.


Whether you had a good relationship with your father or maybe never even knew your father, whether you felt like you could go to your dad about anything or you couldn’t ever talk to your dad, whether you felt comfort in his presence or disappointment, whether you ever felt loved at all…


God your Father wants you to understand that He is and always will be all of these things for you.


And so dear daughters, this Father’s Day there are four things I want you to remember. Four things I want imprinted on your heart. Four things to hold close and never forget.


1. God always wants to comfort and protect you.
Isaiah 43:2, Psalm 91:1-2
2. God wants you to know you can always trust Him and depend on Him. Isaiah 26:3-4, Psalm 28:7
3. God wants you to talk to Him and tell Him the desires of your heart, understanding that He knows your thoughts before you do. He knows your requests and wants to answer before you’ve even asked. Psalm 139:1-6, 17, I John 5:14, Luke 11:13, John 14:13-14
4. God loves you. He loves you. Your Father loves you.
I John 3:1, 4:16, Jeremiah 31:3, Zephaniah 3:17, Ephesians 3:19


I wish I could have seen Ethan’s face when he received my husband’s video message. I can picture his smile. I wish I could’ve seen my daughters face too. They were both in shock. My daughter said she even questioned how he could’ve answered Ethan’s letter when they had only just put it in the mailbox.


Yes, God couldn’t have given me a better illustration of His heart for us. He knows. He answers. He loves. Once you grasp that, His love will never be something that surprises or shocks you. Instead, His love will continually make you smile and say~
“That was all God…MY Father.”