Just the Right One

There are those who would argue that God takes a sort of "hands off" approach to human beings. He has no specific plan for people. His only aim is to allow them to do what they want and hope that they would -- even encourage them to -- love Him freely. When I read that God "works all things after the counsel of His will", that "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD," that "The LORD works everything for His own purposes", I can only conclude that the opposite is true. If God had every day of David's life written in His book before it ever started (Psa 139:16), then I believe that God has explicit plans for each individual. Indeed, in my mind, if God were to take a "hands off" approach -- the God in whom "all things hold together" (Col 1:17) -- the world would cease to exist.

The most difficult thing for me in realigning my earlier thinking to this kind of Sovereignty of God was the realization that I was the best possible choice on God's part as father for my children. I could accept a lot of things, but that was really tough to swallow. Since then, I have.

At the same time, it is wonderful recognizing that God gave me the best possible choice of father for me, as well. I'm quite sure that I would have had designs on something different if He had asked my opinion in earlier days, but today I'm grateful beyond measure for the father He gave me. Just the right one.

I'm grateful for the father who wasn't overly influenced by his emotions, but thought things through instead. I'm grateful for a father who openly wept in front of his children when convicted of his own sin. I'm grateful for a father who is still in love with my mother and not afraid to show it.

I'm grateful for the father that took us camping and fishing, even though it meant that he'd likely get in precious little fishing himself. I'm grateful for a father who taught me the value of work, of earning my own way, even when he had to pay for it. I'm grateful for a father who, day after day, lived as an example of the responsible life of productivity and integrity.

Watch TV or the movies and you'll likely get the impression that there are no good fathers. It seems like every character in every story had a drunk for a dad or a philanderer (or both). He beat his kids. He beat his wife. He failed to provide. He neglected his family. He left. Bad fathers abound in fiction. That's why it's so so easy for me to recognize as fiction. You see, my experience has been that of a great father, a father specifically chosen by God to influence my life specifically as God intended. I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for the father on earth that He selected for me. Just the right one.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!