Gratitude

Y’know, I once wondered if I’d ever have a solid relationship with my dad again.

Even as a saved, born-again, Spirit-filled, covered-by-the-blood, written in the Lamb’s Book of Life Christian, I often thought, “this is just the way it’s going to be.”

It’s funny how different our plans can be from God’s.

Proverbs 19:21, “There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the LORD’s counsel – that will stand.”

It wasn’t that I necessarily planned to keep a mediocre relationship for the rest of my life, but it had honestly been so sideways for so long that I simply didn’t really expect anything different – even from the God of the universe.

You know some of those things in your life that have been an issue for so long that you’ve actually just given up even praying for them? That was me.

In fact, I had even continued to welcome the fact that I was the son of an absent father, even in my mid-20s now. Despite now noticing more of my dad’s efforts to get involved in my life, I had become so absorbed into the ownership of being without fatherly leadership that it became an actual foundational piece of my own identity.

Now, that doesn’t change the past, but it certainly puts the perspective for the future in my lap. Even through the years of having somewhat of a difficult relationship, from my perspective, the Lord decided that now was the time to kick that restoration into high gear.

As I write this, at a silent, clean dinner table, I am resting in the presence of the Lord, who just orchestrated a miraculous family dinner where my mom & dad shared a holiday meal together with us for the first time in over 23 years.

23 years.

You know those chronic pains or habits or dysfunctions that you still wonder about? Those places in your life that have been so dark for so long that they actually make you question God’s goodness or if He even hears you?

I had grown so accustomed to that dysfunction that I even embraced it. I let myself slide into reckless abandonment of my own hope for restoration and God still stepped in and said, “I’m not done yet.”

Isn’t that something?

Let this be a beacon of His light. Let this article be to you a sign of God saying to you, “I still see you. I still see your pain, I still see your broken family, I still see what nobody else does. And I have a plan for all of it.”

Let this be living proof – a testimony of His righteousness and restoration – that our God still heals.

Keep praying.

Happy Thanksgiving.