“I had an interesting conversation with one of my neighbors last night,” Stan began. “His name is John.”
Continuing, Stan said, “John was relating to me something that happened in his relationship with his dad that occurred when John was a fairly young man.”
“It seems,” Stan continued, “that it was his dad’s birthday. John telephoned him, but his mother answered and he spent a few minutes talking with her. Then John said he heard his mother say to his dad, ‘It’s John and he wants to talk with you.’ His dad probably didn’t know that John could hear him, but his response was, ‘What does he want now?’”
“John then said that his mother told his dad, ‘John wants to wish you a happy birthday.’”
“John said he then talked to his dad and wished him a happy birthday, but the conversation was really strained.”
“Quite a little story,” I responded. “Did your neighbor say it bothered him?”
“He said it did, but that it occurred in his pre-Christian days. He became a Christian several years after his dad stepped into eternity, so he never had the chance to talk with his dad about his conversion.”
Continuing, Stan then said, “But John told me he uses this story to relate to others the joy he experiences in having a heavenly Father Who never responds the way his earthly father did with, ‘What does he want now?’”
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Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. Philippians 4:6.
Prayer: Thank you that you are my loving heavenly Father and that you do not get tired of hearing from me. Lead me in my prayers so I pray only in accord with your will, seeking to know you more deeply. You know the limits of earthly fathers and how too often they do not respond to their children the way you do to yours. I lift each one to you and ask for forgiveness on their behalf. Please, Lord, draw them to you and open them to see, understand, receive, and embrace all you have for them in their roles as fathers. Thank you I can and do bring all of these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Waiting for the Train 