If there is one place in this world where I have always felt safe, it is in the arms of my daddy. No worries, no boogeyman, no sadness could ever penetrate those powerful arms (no matter how old I get!).
My dad served as the fire chief for over 30 years in the tiny little town I grew up in. In my eyes, he is nothing short of hero. He is dedicated, he is strong, he is a protector. Sounds like a hero to me.
My dad’s biological father died just a couple of weeks before he was born. He only knew him through pictures and stories. The man who raised my father, who called him son, married my Grandma on my dad’s first birthday. This man and his brother flipped a coin to see who would get to court Grandma. In the end his brother wasn’t sure about taking on the son who came along with the package. But the man I call Grandpa didn’t hesitate. He embraced my dad and called him his own. He taught him how to be a man, disciplined him when necessary and loved him unconditionally.
I know of another Father, a lot like that. Someone who takes in the fatherless, who calls them his own and loves them unconditionally. He may discipline them when necessary but his love is unending.
The unconditional love my Grandpa showed my father, that kind of absolute acceptance, helped make my dad the man he is today. It changed him. He went from being a lost and fatherless boy to someone who belonged.
The same is true of our Heavenly Father’s love. I don’t know your background. I don’t know your relationship with your earthly father. But I do know that your heavenly father is anxious to take you as his own. He wants to love you, to help you grow into an amazing woman who knows how to love others. He wants to change you.
There is something profound that comes with the knowledge that you are unconditionally loved. It is freeing. You don’t have to be or say the right thing, you don’t have to earn it. You are simply loved for who you are, just as you are.
This is a father’s love.
This is OUR Father’s love.
Regardless of what you may have experienced from your earthly father, in the arms of your heavenly Father you are safe. You are protected. You are loved. You belong.
