Becoming a Father Like 'The Father'

Zechariah 8:12 “For they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the skies will yield their dew. I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.” ~CSB

When I became a father in the 80’s, I became ‘my’ father.  I raised my daughters the way my daddy raised me. I was fun, but I was strict. What I said, I meant and my rules, were my father’s rules.  That didn’t work out too well for me as a father. 

My second born was so young when her mother and I got divorced.  I was a totally different father, man, and husband during that time.  As a result, my daughter held resentment towards me and eventually grew to a point where she did not want to forgive me for the kind of father I was in raising her and hurting her mother.

At one point I was told by her not to call anymore. My baby girl who I love very much, wanted to cut off all communication with me.  Now this is an area where I could not be a father, like my father.  I needed some other direction in the healing of the relationship with my daughter. I am so fortunate that this situation occurred when I was growing in the Word of God daily.  It was time for me to become a father like ‘The Father’.

John 15:5 Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” ~CSB My whole life, when it came to my relationships and family, I tried to work it by myself. I didn’t invite Jesus in to help me.  Knowing the Word I realized that I was doing this ‘parent thing’ all wrong.  God knows my life and my destiny.  Therefore He knows the destiny of my children.  It is His seeds and His will that need to be planted in my children, not mine.

We need the Lord in our lives to guide us in directing our children. So according to the book of Zechariah, I must first sow seeds in peace, that means allowing God’s presence in my thoughts concerning direction. The Spirit led me to respond to her and reply, “I cannot just disappear from your life because I am your dad. But I will give you your space.  I will call you once a month.  You do not have to answer, but I will call just the same.  Eventually she would answer. We would talk briefly then the conversation would end.

But you see, believing that “…the vine will yield its fruit…” and allowing God to grant me the wisdom to become a better father, along with the healing to soften my daughter’s heart, we began to communicate again. Through the grace of God, she and I began to grow a stronger relationship and to this day we talk to each other almost once a week.

When we trust in His will for us, God says He will give us, “…all these things as an inheritance.” In other words, God has already laid out our paths and charted our destinies.  He has blessed us with our children and blessed our children with us. What we must do is stay in sync with God’s plan for our lives so that we are able to pass on the blessings to our children according to the way God’s will is for it, not our own.  God’s Word is the blessing in producing the ‘fruit’ that comes from the ‘vine’.

May God continue to bless and keep you covered under His power in Jesus’ name.

Amen

Blessings
​ Billy

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