Amidst driving rain and howling winds, I found myself scrambling to call for a taxi at 4 in the morning, rushing to get to the hospital. It wasn’t quite how I imagined welcoming my son into the world as a first-time father. Yet, reflecting on this dramatic morning, perhaps a Typhoon-10 entrance couldn’t have been better timed for our elder son, who often thrives on drama!
As I ponder these past few years of fatherhood, I’ve gleaned several insights that have profoundly shaped my perspective on God. Here are two that stand out.
what privilege lies within having such a perfect Fatherly pursuit from above
The first is that of ‘the Father’s heart’. This phrase is often woven into our Christian conversations and proclaimed in our worship songs. While I thought I grasped its meaning, it was only through having children of my own that I caught a deeper glimpse of what it means to possess ‘the Father’s heart’. For me, it’s an innate and unstoppable desire to nurture, love, discipline, spend time with blessing and rebuking as needed. It’s about balancing the complex tension between feeling heartbroken over their missteps with an overwhelming urge to forgive and support.
When my children look at me with those pleading eyes, asking for things they probably shouldn’t have, in that attempt to be a responsible guardian, I’m faced with making choices that sometimes mean denying their requests despite their disappointment. What they don’t see is my deep longing behind every decision to bring them joy and happiness. How often do we find ourselves in similar situations with our Heavenly Father? Not understanding why some prayers seem apparently unanswered. Or how sometimes, in those vulnerable moments, it’s easy to feel abandoned, doubting whether God truly cares for our well-being. Yet he always has our best interests at heart! (Romans 8:28).
The second lesson is witnessing the relatively swift transition from being desired because I am able to be a provider of basic needs for an infant to becoming someone understood as being a figure of stability and care. Someone actively sought after by your child through love. As my boys grow, I’ve discovered immense sweetness in not just being present in their lives but being desired by them, whether it’s when they run towards you excitedly after a party, trying to tell you the world or seek your comfort, even through silence, during tears and disappointment. There’s indescribable joy when your child simply wants nothing more than your presence. Their purest desire just to be near Daddy mirrors how much more our Heavenly Father longs for us to relate closely with him (Psalm 37:3-7).
To be clear, despite countless failings as an earthly father myself, and perhaps you can relate, we are reassured knowing that our Heavenly Father compensates beyond measure all we lack (Ephesians 3:20). What’s more, whether or not we have children of our own, may we be reminded what privilege lies within having such a perfect Fatherly pursuit from above. A divine desire for dwelling within each one of us! (Luke 15).
