No Child Left Behind…
Malachi 4:6 (Amplified Bible)
6And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the [estranged] fathers to the [ungodly] children, and the hearts of the [rebellious] children to [the piety of] their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance of the ungodly], lest I come and smite the land with a curse and a ban of utter destruction.
Sunday as I sat in church I watched our Bishop being used of God once again to heal a set group entrusted to his care. He called for young ladies from the ages of 17 to 13 who had not seen their fathers this year. I watched as he hugged each one to bless them, encourage them and to stand as the father some never knew. Then he called for women who had scares from not knowing a father or one who had laid them by the way side or had disregarded them. As he began to give different scenarios he said God was healing those left behind by a father that started another family, my family burst into tears and wept uncontrollably, I prayed hard but knew the pain of my child was even too much for me, my mother came over to intercede and to allow her to receive release at her breast as she wept and allowed God to touch her heart.
As I revisited that moment several times this week, I had to pray over my own mind and heart and to see the pain of so many and even to experience firsthand the pain of my own child, was more than my heart could bare, I cried out to the Lord for all who were suffering in this way. In that moment I could hear, “what if every time I gained a new family member I forgot about one of you? What if as your heavenly father I left any of you behind or did not allow you the same access, love and promises of another, how would that make you feel?” In that moment I felt the full weight, of what every child left behind by a father must feel like. If a dad is supposed to be a child’s first reference to God, and God does not leave us or forsake us, how can it be so easy for a dad to leave His child behind? It is because we as a people even people of God have lost a true connection to God and respect for His role as our Father and as an example of who a Father should be and what his character should look like. We have not allowed God to become the Father we need him to be, because we have become rebellious children that have taken ourselves out of the security and shelter of a loving Father who wants to train us up in the way that we should go.
Just as we need our Heavenly Father, we need our earthly fathers to be a part of our lives caring, protecting, teaching, training, securing and providing for us. No child should have to face being without his or her dad regardless of whether the parents are together or not. Children should never be the sacrifice. Just as God never turns His back on us when He gains another child or expands His family or when dynamics change with us, He still loves us, and seeks to protect us and care for us…Fathers do not leave your children behind, they did not get here by themselves, they need you in their lives, they need you to be whole, just like we need our Heavenly Father to complete our lives and lead us in the direction that gives us purpose and clear direction, we need our fathers to grab a hold and stay a hold of our their children giving them the love and security that they need to be a strong and whole individuals with a future and a hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment