God is a redeemer
When I
was 15 years old, I began a personal relationship with God when I gave my life
to Him. I gave Him full authority in my life as my savior and friend and sought
to learn as much as I could about Him. In this brief story I want to focus on
just one of the many great characteristics of God, which is how He redeems.
By
definition the word redeem means “to be bought back”, to “restore”. I’ve known God as my redeemer when I
first came to know Him. He sent His one and only son Jesus to be my payment for
my sins in order for me to even have a relationship with Him. He did all this
because He loves me, and He did the same for you too. So He has already paid the price and redeemed us all, we
only need to trust Him with our life.
Since I left on The World Race, I have come to know God as a redeemer in
a completely new way. See when I was 15 years old, my parents got a divorce and
for many reasons, my Dad and I became very distant. This was very hard for me
at this time in my life because before then, my Dad and I were inseparable. For
over 12 years after the divorce, the relationship I shared with my Dad was
never the same. At training camp for this mission trip, God revealed I had some
areas of pride in my life that He wanted to help me deal with so I could grow
more into the man He was calling me to be. As I landed in the Philippines, God
revealed how much that pride allowed my Dad and I to stay distant for so
long. As I prepared to talk to my
Dad about this, I had to pray. During that time with God, He said that when I
get back home I need to wash his feet. Seems odd right? I wrote my Dad and
explained that Jesus washed His disciples feet as an outward sign that He was
there to serve them. Jesus, God in the flesh, washing some nobodies feet. How
often we forget the significance of this scene.
I went
on to tell my Dad that because he didn’t pursue me the way I believed the way a
true father should pursue a son, I didn’t make a great attempt at investing in
him. This was pride, and it stopped me from having a great relationship for
over 12 years. I told him, that even though he didn’t pursue me or love me well
during these times, I should have redoubled my efforts to have the kind of
relationship I wanted from him. In not doing so, I wasn’t being the kind of man
God was calling me. So I asked for his forgiveness in this and expressed my
deep desire to connect with him and have the relationship we used to have
growing up.
I sent
this, not knowing what kind of response I would get. About 2 days later I saw
there was an email in my inbox waiting from him. So I opened it and to sum it
up, it was an apology from him from the things he did on his end that I wasn’t
even sure he was even aware of. He then went on to tell me story after story
from when I was younger and all the time we spent together. We were
inseparable; he was my “special buddy” a nickname we used to give to each other
when he would tuck me in at night when my Mom was at work late. He would get
ready to close the door and would say ” Hey Michael”…. And I would respond ” Yeah
Dad?”. He would proceed with “You know what?”. I would reply with great
anticipation “What?”. Then he would finish with a drawn out “You’re my special buddy” and then we
would reverse roles and I would do the same to him before we wished each other
goodnight and sealed it with an I love you.
As I
read the email, tears flowed down my face…. I thought where did this
relationship go? How could I have let it go this long without trying to repair
this broken down relationship? Twelve years…. Gone. A still small voice filled
the room. God whispered in my ear, “Michael, I love you and I am your father in
heaven and I have redeemed this time with your Dad, I’ve bought it back when I
sent my son Jesus to die on the cross. So enjoy this gift, love and invest well
my son”. More tears flowed as I
sat in awe of how great God truly is and how blessed I am to be called His son.
Over the
course of my 3 months on the mission field my Dad, someone who I was the
furthest from relationally when I left the states in January, has now become
one of my best friends. He is the first to respond to my blogs that I write. We
take great joy in sharing our hearts through email. The best part is when we
get to see each other and share deeper conversations over skype. God has in
many ways bought back the lost years between my Dad and I because we now share
a relationship that runs deep. The greatest piece to all of this is the closer
God draws my Dad and I to Himself, the closer my Dad and I get. God is at the
center of our newfound relationship and it is the driving force in what is
allowing us to connect on such a deeper level. All of this has brought great
freedom in my own life to be more of the man God called me to be.
So if you’re reading this and you think of someone in your
own life where pride has ruined and destroyed a relationship with someone you
care about. Know that it’s not too late; it’s never too late with God in
control of your life. So let me encourage you to seek God, allow Him to help
you walk through it and He will redeem the days, months or years lost between
you and that other person. He did for me, and it’s one of the best things to
happen to me yet since I left home. A friend once told me in order to be a great father, you have
to pour yourself out in being a great son first. This advice hits hard, but in
following this advice it’s set me on a path to one day be a great father
because I’m taking the time now to be a great son first.
