A Daddy is an important part of any young girl’s life. He tells you how beautiful and loved you are, he cheers you on from the sidelines at soccer games and he teaches you how to change the oil in your car. My dad did all of that, but even more. My dad has taught me of Jesus’ love for me.
God is sometimes a hard concept for me. This man that lives in the clouds and isn’t physically a part of my life. I mean, I know the Holy Spirit is always with me, but there are times when I sit down with the Lord and BEG for a physical encounter with Him. I so desperately want to hear Him audibly or see Him standing before me, but that’s not always how God works. So I’m left to believe that He does still love me even though I can’t see Him or hear Him speaking to me. Then I remember my own father. My dad (whom I call Daddio) lives overseas and has for 16 years of my life. I usually see him about once a year when he comes home to America. There are times when I desperately want my father to be at home with me, I just want to see him and have him hug me and tell me everything will be okay, but that’s not how it works with my daddy. But he loves me from a distance, he sends me e-mails and he calls me. When I get these opportunities to speak with him, I don’t take them for granted; they are like gems to me. The same with the Lord, the time I get to spend reading the Bible, it’s a precious thing for me, it’s my opportunity to read what Daddy has to say to me. My Daddio’s distance has taught me to appreciate the messages that are written specifically for me. If he was with me all the time, I would take his words for granted, but I instead I count them as precious.
My Daddio has taught me the importance of spending time with the Lord too. When you only get a week or two to spend with someone you don’t get to see often, you make this person your first priority. You cancel any other dates and you spend hours sitting next to them while they sleep on the couch because of jet lag. You hang on every word that comes out of their mouth because you don’t know when you will get to hear this right next to you again. This is how I view my times with God. I know that any day I can spend sitting with God, but because He isn’t physically here with me, the times that I get to sit and hear what He has to say to me become that much more important. I want to move other things on my agenda to make more time for Him. I will wake up an hour early if that means getting to spend more time with God.
My Daddio has taught me that it’s a choice to love someone. For years we have e-mailed consistently and that is how our relationship has grown. But I could have read his e-mails and never responded. I could have been angry that he wasn’t here with me and let the relationship go, but I choose to stay in touch. And even if I had ignored all his attempts to communicate, my father would never stop loving me. He would just keep trying. God is the same, he wrote an entire book detailing what He’s done for us and He wants us to respond to Him. He wants to hear about the important things in our lives, but He also wants to know everything that is in our heart, no matter how silly. And even if we don’t respond to Him, He is still waiting there to tell us He loves us. Not giving up on us.
There have been times when I’ve forgotten to respond to my Daddio or just been upset and I haven’t responded. But he didn’t get angry with me or ignore me or leave me out to dry, he just kept sending messages and telling me he loves me. There have been times when I haven’t talked to God because I didn’t agree with what He had to say or just because I’ve been busy doing other things. But He waited for me, and He loves me none – the -less.
My Daddio has supported me financially for years now and I’m definitely appreciative, but I’ve realized over time that I love my Daddio, not because he provides for me, but because he loves me and wants the best for my life. It’s been interesting to see how this relates to God because people are constantly praying that God will provide for all their needs and if He doesn’t, they don’t really love Him. People expect God to be the provider of all their wants. Now God does provide, but that isn’t why we should love Him, we should love that He does this for us, but we love God because He loves us and wants the best for us. God sacrificed everything for us and then we aren’t satisfied because He doesn’t provide the way we expect Him to provide, that’s not love on our parts. I love my Daddio because he forgives me and loves me no matter what, I love my Daddy because He died so I wouldn’t even have to remember my sins.
