A Father to the Fatherless
My last blog was about my reconciliation with my earthly father. I feel I must share my journey before reconciliation. How does one live when separated from an earthly father? How did I live before we were reconciled?
When Christ became my Savior, my life was changed. Psalm 27:10 says, “When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” The Lord has “taken me up” many times in my life. His Spirit has guided me through this journey.
We can only forgive one another when we have seen ourselves before a Holy God. When we become broken over our sin and who we are without Christ, we become thankful people at the foot of the cross.
Hebrews 1:1-4 says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” (NKJV)
This, my friend, is the only power in life strong enough to cause the heart to forgive completely – to live a life with purpose.
When I am given the privilege of sharing a devotional with a group of people, I love to use objects, props, or word pictures to drive home my point. A few Sundays ago, after I wrote the blog about my earthly father, the Lord did an amazing thing for me – He gave me a live word picture.
I was standing in my church singing the glorious truths of my Savior and what He has done and is doing for me. My pastor was standing in front of me. His little girl crossed the isle to hug him and he reached down and tightly held her hand. Oh the joy that flooded my soul at that moment. “Yes, Lord, this is a picture of what my Heavenly Father has done for me.” All those years in my young life, Christ stood beside me, holding my hand, becoming ever so real to me. This, my friend, prepared me for my journey to be reconciled.
If you ask how I could forgive the deep hurt of the past, I would answer that it certainly wasn’t anything good in me. Remember the passage in Hebrews?
- Christ purged my sins (He went to the cross for those sins).
- Christ sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
- Christ is the brightness of His (the Father’s) glory.
- Christ upholds all things by the word of His power.
Pam Cavanaugh