Tough To Really Understand

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are! – 1 John 3:1

I finally made it to the pool!  I found an isolated shady spot under a tree to read but quickly found myself distracted.  I love people watching!  I saw kids daring each other to flip off the high-dive.  I saw the new moms dipping their babies’ toes in the coolness of the baby pool.  Then right next to me, I watched a preteen love drama unfold.

Two middle school girls approached two boys and sang out in unison, “Hi Jack, you’re Izzy’s boyfriend.  We already know.”  They then grabbed each other’s arms, turned, and high-tailed it to the other side of the pool, giggly uncontrollably.  The boys acted unmoved until the girls were out of sight, then Jack said, “Izzy says she loves me and wants us to kiss.”  

It was hard, but I resisted the urge to walk over and give my motherly advice.  I pretended to look away but from a distance I could see how uncomfortable the boys felt in their pre-pubescent bodies.  Soon Izzy, who looked about four years older than the boys, showed up and asked Jack if he wanted to bike home with her.  At age twelve, this awkward attraction to one another is what’s understood as love.

Even for adults, though, love can be tough to understand.  Take God’s love for us as an example.  How can we possibly comprehend a depth of love that would compel a father to sacrifice a child, as God did for us with his son Jesus?  Understanding and accepting that kind of love is hard, especially if your earthly father was or is nothing like your heavenly father.  

If we’ve had a critical, judgmental dad, we can see God as un-pleasable.  If we’ve have an angry, hot tempered dad, we can view God as unapproachable and unpredictable.  And if we have an absent dad, we can pretend we don’t need God and try to pull “ourselves up by our bootstraps” and rely on our own strength. 

As we approach the celebration of Father’s Day Weekend, let’s thank God for the love He lavished on us.  He is our faultless Father.  Let’s pray for those who have lost their dads, don’t know their dads, or don’t love their dads.  Let’s pray for the fatherless children in the world and look to God alone to fill our hearts with His great love.  

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