Fatherless.

The word “fatherless” has come up a lot in my life lately. As you already know, I am interning at a children’s home, where many kids are fatherless, so obviously I am going to hear it a lot. I overhear it in conversations, I mention it in conversations, I have heard sermons on it, and I hear children talk about how they do not know their father or their father “refused”them, as they would say.

Think about that word for a moment… What does it mean to be fatherless? For me, it means not having that special bond with the man who gave you physical life on this earth. It means wondering who that man is, what he is doing, if he is thinking about you, or if he is even alive. There are kids at GSF who ask these questions everyday, and I know there are kids and adults all over the world who ask those same questions. 8 year olds, 18 year olds, 26 year olds, and 46 year olds; Everywhere in the world there is someone of every age who is fatherless. Well, God leaves the word fatherless all over his Word; Deuteronomy 10:18 says that God “executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.” Deuteronomy 24:19 says to not keep everything you have for yourself, but to help the sojourner, fatherless, and the widows. Psalm 68:5 says that God is “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows,” and Psalm 146:9 says that “The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless...” These are just a few examples.

I think God uses the specific word fatherless because he knows that the father is such an important role in a person’s life. Not that the mother isn’t important; the relationship with the mother is crucial, but we see something different in the role of the father. God is mentioned as a father many times in the Bible. First, he created everything and everyone; second, it mentions him as father to his children. The people who believe in him and put their salvation in him, he is their father. God isn’t just their father either, but their ultimate father. I believe this is why the role of the earthly father is so important; it is supposed to demonstrate our relationship with our heavenly father.

For children like those here at GSF, it is hard to understand God’s love, because of the way their father treated them, or because he died. “My father left me, so why should I trust another Father who says he will never leave? How can I expect someone to love me that much, love me enough to die for me? My father died, how will I know that Jesus is never truly going to leave?” I struggle so much with this, because no child should ever have to ask those questions, and it leads me to brokenness and thankfulness.

I am especially thankful this summer for my earthly father. All of the things I see and hear about the word fatherless make me appreciate my dad even more. I am blessed beyond what I can express, and most of the time I take that for granted. I am also thankful for God teaching me everyday that I ultimately cannot be dependent on even my earthly father, but I must be dependent on Him. God’s grace and love are more powerful than anything my dad can show me. However, I am thankful for the Godly example of love and grace that my father tries to show everyday to me and everyone around him, and I desperately wish that every child could experience that.e

No one is truly fatherless. God is our father, if we believe in him and trust in him. In this I have hope. When people hurting makes me cry and feel hopeless, I have hope. All because of Jesus, I have hope.