GPBC Blog

By Troy Ready--

I will never forget the joy of anticipating becoming a father as we waited for the arrival of our first son, Myles, in 2008. No doubt, there is much wisdom in God’s creative design to give nine months of “prep time” before life gets completely flipped upside-down. In the final days leading up to his grand entry, my excitement grew even further as I thought about the years ahead and what life would look like from this point forward. When we finally brought our newborn home, I distinctly remember making my first trip to the grocery store to pick up a few items that Jenny had requested. Then suddenly, and a bit unexpectedly, while walking through the Fred Meyer parking lot, I was overwhelmed with the reality of my new name…Daddy! I literally started skipping through the parking lot while saying to myself, “I’m a daddy! I’m a daddy!”

Now 12 years later, and an additional two sons to our family, I am still feeling that same delight in the gift of being a father. Most recently, while spending the afternoon at Cottonwood Beach, the Lord momentarily gave me tunnel-like vision as I sat watching the three of them wrestle and splash one another in the Columbia River. And then came an impression from the Lord, “these are precious moments, Troy. Delight in them, revel them, and enjoy them.”

Understandably, not all of us have had the experience of earthly fathers who delight in us, or who reflect the Fatherly care and comfort that is ideal for our growth as people. In fact, and far too often, our earthly fathers have been the chief inflictors of deep wounds that many of us still carry through much of our lives. We all, however, do have a Father in heaven that is ever present, ever pursuing, ever healing and ever delighting in us as His beloved children. 
Zephaniah 3:17 reminds us that “The Lord your God is with you. The mighty warrior who saves. He will take great DELIGHT in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” 

Think about that for a moment…God the Father takes great delight in YOU and rejoices OVER YOU with singing! It’s breathtaking, really. Family, my prayer is that God would further reveal Himself to each of us as Father, that He would redeem what “Father” means for many of us, and that He would empower us to be “Fathers” of others in this world as we listen, comfort, and love as representatives of Jesus. 

Happy Father’s Day, and enjoy this song called “Lean Back”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1JYVUmCGKE