Upsetting Your Father

My husband is an easy going fella. There isn't much that trips his trigger or makes him angry. Saturday night Gracie wanted to watch me bathe Lilly Faith in the sink while Will was getting his own bath. Gracie grabbed a small stool I've had for years and was walking toward the kitchen counter when all of a sudden, she tripped and fell. She was fine but the stool lost one of it's four legs. She was so upset that she had broken my stool, but I explained it was an old stool and I knew she didn't mean to do it. My husband walked in and saw the broken stool and asked her what happened. She explained how she broke the stool. "But I didn't mean to, daddy!" she told him. "I know," he said. "I'm not mad at you," he said. "I just wanted to know how it happened to I could possibly fix it." Gracie asked him, "You're not mad? Isn't there anything that upsets you?"

I heard a Christian author on the radio last week who said we think of God in the same way we think of our earthly father. For instance, if your earthly father was gruff and always in a bad mood, then you will think of God in the same way. If your earthly father was loving and always forgiving, then you will think of God in that way. If your earthly father was no where to be found or absent from your life, then you will probably think of God has being a hands-off father.

Psalm 84:11 says, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." Not only does the sun bring warmth to the earth, but it also brings light so we can see. God lights our way so we can see His will more clearly. He also shields us from fear and from the danger of the unknown. But none of us are blameless because we have all sinned. I don't believe this passage implies perfection, but instead, undivided loyalty. When God grants forgiveness, we become blameless in His sight.

Isn't it nice to know that although we mess our life up so easily, whether accidental or intentional, God's mercy and love endures! It is our loyalty that He is after.