Don't Hurt Your Father's Heart

by Audrey Wauson


My son is a wonderful father to my precious granddaughter. He plays with her, changes her, cleans her up, feeds her, he’s just a great dad. One of the highlights of his day is coming home, because his precious little girl waits for him by the door and then squeals with delight when he walks in the door. She holds her little hands up, expectant smile on her face, longing just to be held in her daddy’s arms.

Recently however, my son’s heart is being tested. Some days when he comes home his brother walks in the door with him. He is the new fascination of our granddaughter. So, first she wants to be picked up and hugged by her daddy, then, she reaches for her uncle and wants for him to hold and play with her. This has been rather difficult for my son. He is after all her daddy. He’s the one who pays for her every need. He’s the one who cares for her daily. He’s the one who will sacrifice anything and everything he has for her well-being as well as for her delight. And she’s now turning her attention to her uncle.

I don’t want to make too much of this analogy. However, follow me for a bit. Our Father, our Heavenly Father, has given us everything. We literally have nothing without Him, we are nothing without Him. He has plans for us, plans that will prosper us and not harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) In fact, our Dad was so intent on giving us a future that He sacrificed His first-born Son, He literally allowed Him to be killed in a brutal horrible way, so that we could have a future with Him, so that we could have life now! (John 3:16)

But sometimes we get distracted by other things, other people. We allow other things to come first in our hearts. We throw some token attention to God, like … we go to church Sunday morning or we read a devotional a couple of times a week. Then we’re off to our hobbies, our TV shows, or friends. But what He’s after is our hearts. It’s not that He doesn’t want us to have friends or do other things … but He says that He’s a jealous God … He’s says that there is none like Him … He’s calling us, reminding us, admonishing us … “Get to know Me, spend time with Me and get to know My heart.”

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously,
and He will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33