Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1NLT
For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a Mighty Savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His Love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. Zephaniah 3:17NLT
My dad has always been a very hard working man. He owned his own business as a demolition contractor and The Lord prospered him greatly! The work was extremely tough but, then again, so is my dad.
Whenever one of us kids had a graduation, it wasn’t uncommon for him to show up in work clothes. Sometimes he’d get an opportunity to make it home in time for a quick shower, but even that wasn’t always possible if he was going to make the ceremony on time. He was just trying to be there for us regardless of how he looked.
With all the joy and feelings of accomplishment that graduations can bring, none of it held a candle to my father’s voice. Every graduation Dad would turn and look around at the crowd of people, then to whichever of us 6 children were graduating and say, “Can you believe all of these people came out just to see my son/daughter graduate?!"
Success is great: to graduate, to get a promotion, to finish a project, even accolades. All of these are wonderful in this journey of life but they pale in comparison to hearing the voice of my Heavenly Father cheering me on! I promise you, whether or not you have or had an encouraging earthly father, your Heavenly Father is always cheering you forward! He’s saying, “Can you believe all of heaven came to see my son, my daughter graduate?!"
No matter what it is, whether it be success, challenges, even, at time, failure, His love is constant. He is constant, standing and cheering you onward and upward. He believes you can make it!
Blessings!
A Prayer of Thanks
Father, today I thank you that your heart, your eyes, and your love are fixated on me. Thank you that you are for me, you are with me, and that you rejoice over me. I love you, Jesus, and it is in Your mighty name I pray. Amen!
I want to hear your thoughts - please comment below! How does a father’s encouragement help shape a person’s strength to make it in this world?
