"Daddy"

The little boy grew up to be,

A lawless thug, to prison he,

And all because of this, you see,

He never had a daddy.

The little boy thought it okay,

To drug and drink the days away,

Because the one who went astray,

Was an addicted daddy.

The little boy discovered porn,

There on the laptop the next morn,

And the seeds of lust were born,

Planted by his daddy.

The little boy thought he’s female,

Ridiculed on a loud scale,

Emasculated, lost and frail,

He had an angry daddy.

And many more have daddy scars,

Life stolen ‘cause of problems ours,

They could have been such superstars,

They needed help from daddy.

Let’s draw a new scenario,

Dad gets the help he needs, you know,

Jesus gives him grace to grow,

God helps him to be daddy.

And though he’s not a perfect man,

He’s doing all the best he can,

And by the Spirit takes a stand,

God called him to be daddy.

He breaks the curse from family past,

It won’t continue, will not last,

And from his family demons cast,

He fights ‘cause he’s their daddy.

And in the end when life is done,

He’ll stand there and confess the Son,

Knowing by the race he’s run,

That God is this man’s daddy.

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4, NLT)

It would be hard to over-estimate how influential our fathers are in our lives. This is true, for better or for worse. A father is tasked by God’s word to train his children in God’s ways. He is warned not to anger them, but to nurture them. If you had a father like that, you were blessed indeed. Your dad gave you a head-start in understanding and accepting your heavenly Father. Some dads fail miserably at this, in which case you got a handicap rather than a head start. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get there. You can, by the grace of God. You will discover that God offers to be the daddy you never had, and knows how to heal every wound you have suffered. Seek Him and you will find.

Lord, help fathers to be the dads You have called them to be, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Alfredo Rodriguez, alfredoartist.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Alfredo, and God bless you.