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&In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths&

"My Daddy's Not Here"

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Just this past Sunday, as we were riding in the car, I heard a joke of sorts on the radio.  The man said, "They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder--Well, there are surely a lot of people who are really fond of their church today".  Well, as sad and as true as that joke may be, the saddest part is the fact that way too many people who claim to be Christians, who call themselves children of God, are really in fact only fond of Him and not just their church, but His church.  While we were riding down the road and I heard that joke, I thought about how slim the crowd was in our own church that day and I wondered, how many of those who were missing really and truly loved the Lord or how many of them were only fond of Him.

At that same time, I began to think of some very dear friends of ours who were away in another state, with the potential of staying there.  As I thought about them, I asked myself, "Has their absence made me grow fonder of them?".  The answer to that was "No".  What their absence, and the potential of their prolonged absence brought about was sadness of heart and feelings of grief.  What was the reason, my heart wasn't growing fonder?  The reason is simply because I am not merely fond of these dear friends, but rather because I truly love them.  This kind of love, my friends, cannot be justly explained with mere words, because it, like these dear friends are from and of God.  So as to not leave you hanging, let me say that the Lord, in His infinite mercy, brought these friends back to us.

I have some other very dear friends who live in another state and who we only get to see a few times a year.  Likewise, in their absence, do I experience feelings of mere growing fondness?  "No".  The feelings I experience in the gaps when I cannot be with them are just like the feelings I spoke of concerning the other friends.  The reason is absolutely the same as before and I make every effort to be near them whenever it is at all possible.  These friends just happen to be in town right now and I have taken a vacation from work so that I could be with them and in about three weeks from now, I have also taken a vacation in order to be near them.  I mentioned this last night to one of the other dear friends I spoke of and she said, "He should be really honored that you would do that."  Without hesitation, I replied, "No, it's me who is honored."  I feel a need right now to try and explain that honor.  You see, the man who is the friend living in another state just happens to be the man who led me to the Lord.  Now, this man has, and I am not exaggerating, thousands of friends.  This man also has, and I am not exaggerating, led many thousands to the Lord.  Now, the Lord could have used anyone to lead me to Him, but no, He chose this man.  Of those many thousands who this man has led to the Lord, many never even see him again much less become close to him.  Very shortly after this man led me to the Lord, the Lord brought us together and immediately a bond was formed which has continued to grow ever since.  Friends, that is not mere fondness.  Now, the lady who mentioned this man's feeling of honor may not yet realize it yet, but the same honor I feel in having this man as a friend is the honor I feel in having her and her family as friends.  I don't deserve either of these, but they are truly gifts of God.

My Daddy and I were always very close and I loved him very much.  When he died, I took it very hard.  The feelings I had when he died were not those of growing fondness.  The feelings I had were those of extreme sadness and grief.  I shall never grow any fonder of my Daddy than I was when he was with me, but I shall never outgrow the sadness and grief of not having him here with me.  Since the Lord saved me though, I can deal with these feelings now, because I now have the promise of a great reunion one day.  Praise the Lord, in this reunion, will be all these precious gifts the Lord has given me.

In the last couple of months, I have had to work a lot of overtime and quite often working over eighty hours a week.  In doing this, I haven't had very much time to spend with my family.  In my absence, my dear wife has had to work some pretty tricky maneuvers in order to get to be with me.  Now, I am not inside her where I can feel what she feels, but with all that she has done to be with me, I can tell you for sure that she has not experienced feelings of mere growing fondness.  I know exactly what she has been experiencing, for I have experienced it as well.  It is exactly the same as with all the before mentioned experiences.  It is a feeling of sadness and grief and it is sure evidence of real love.

In our bedroom, we have a monitor where we can hear our daughter in her bedroom.  Many times, (many times), at night we will hear our daughter say, "Mama".  Then my wife will get up and go into her room to check on her.  Well, here lately, while I have had to work so much overtime, our daughter has had a hard time getting to sleep at night.  A short time ago, while I was at work, my wife heard that old familiar, "Mama" come over the monitor.  She got up and went in to check on her and she said, "I think I know why I can't get to sleep at night."  Well, eager to find out, my wife asked her why.  She said, "It's because my Daddy's not here."  Friends, you would have to know our daughter, but she wouldn't just say that if she didn't really believe it and I believe with all my heart that it was true.  Now, what she was feeling wasn't a mere feeling of growing fondness.  I think about all those times when I would drive up from working all day or night and having her to meet me at the door or on the carport yelling, "Daddy's home, Daddy's home", and how wonderful that would make me feel, but when my wife told me about my little girl's comment about her sleeping problem, though it does my heart good to know the love she has for me, it really tore at my heart to know the sadness it was causing.

Now I have a confession to make.  A few weeks ago, in the midst of all the overtime I have been working, I laid off reading and studying my Bible for a period of six days.  Now, I've been to Vietnam and I've been in some pretty miserable places and situations in my life, but I can say without exaggeration that those were the most miserable six days that I can recall ever experiencing.  The reason for this is because "my Daddy wasn't here".  I'm not talking about my earthly Daddy and though I do miss him, it was my heavenly Father's absence that was causing my misery.  It wasn't that He ever left me or forsook me, but the fellowship wasn't there.  Before the Lord saved me on Friday the thirteenth of November in 1992, I really should have gone to church every chance I got and I really should have read my Bible, but I could really take it or leave it.  I cannot say whether or not missing church ever made my heart grow fonder, but it really didn't bother me.  Since the Lord saved me though, I still should attend church every chance I get, but now I really need to and it really bothers me when I can't.  And since the Lord saved me, I not only should read and study my Bible regularly, but I really need to and it really bothers me when I don't. 

The friends I have mentioned in this little article (all of them) and the love that I have for them and that they have for me are a gift from God.  They are my friends and I need them.  My wife and the love that we share are a gift from God.  She is my friend and I need her.  My children and the love that we share are gifts from God.  They are my friends and I need them.  My church and the love that I have for it is a gift from God.  It is my friend and I need it.  The Word of God is His love letter to me.  It is my friend and I really need it.  God Himself and the love and fellowship we share is His gift to me.  He is my friend and I really need Him.

Is your Daddy home?  If you are never so honest with anyone else, please be honest with yourself when you answer this.  When you miss church, does your heart grow fonder, or does it really bother you?  When you fail to read and study the Bible, does your heart grow fonder or are you truly miserable?  Do you really love Him or are you just fond of Him.  Please be sure.  Be very sure!  God bless you.