Gleanings – Trusting Dad
1 Peter 1:13-25
“Through him you have confidence in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
Through him, Jesus, you have confidence in God. Reliability is a big deal. And we have it in God because of Jesus. When Jesus seemed forsaken, he was not alone. Dead but found alive. Shamed but now reigns in glory. The same God who was there for Jesus, vindicating boldly Jesus’ trust in the him, that God and Father is there for us. He is reliable and that is a really big deal. Or at least it should be.
So many have a hard time relating to this reliability of God. For so many, people that should have been reliable were found absent at the most critical juncture of our lives. Especially fathers. Too often they were MIA. Some “ism” caused them to be absent, physically and emotionally. Sometimes it is as simple as misplaced priorities or self-centered perspective.
You may have heard this example but it bears repeating: “Charles Francis Adams, the 19th century political figure and diplomat, kept a diary. One day he entered: Went fishing with my son today, a day wasted…His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: Went fishing with my father, the most wonderful day of my life!”
The elder Adams somehow never had (due to his own experience of father) or lost the value of showing up, the value of presence, the value of reliability, that you will in fact be there when the need arises. Do we not know how much a child, especially a son, wants to be loved by his father. A lot of boys don’t figure it out until they have kids of their own but they would have traded a thousand x-boxes and I-pads (provisions) for one day of fishing (quality time).
And when you can’t rely upon little f father, it is most difficult to contemplate trust in the big F Father. Reliability is a bridge too far.
But God is the mother of all fathers. All of us are created in the image of God but only those who believe become the children of God. We are adopted. God is our Father. Regardless of our personal experience in this life, we have a dad and He is reliable. Just ask Jesus. Death and shame did not have the last word. Life and glory did. We have a hope and it will not disappoint. His reliability will stand the test of time. In fact, it already has!