The Face of My Father....

Sometimes, while trying to figure out some of these spiritual quandaries, riddles, puzzles and brain teasers, it is good to get back to the basics. So today, as I headed out the door to the gym, I grabbed one of the first Christian books I ever read…back to basics….to take along with me. He Still Moves Stones by Max Lucado. Shortly after becoming a Christian, the book caught my eye while I was browsing at the library. It began a ten plus year “relationship” with Max Lucado, my all time favorite Christian writer. Although I disagree with some of his theology, his writings are anointed in revealing the Father heart of God. And to me that is one of the most basic basics. God is Father. There was a short excerpt in the book that I want to share here:

I have a picture in my mental scrapbook that illustrates this principle. In the scene, my father and I are battling a storm in a fishing boat. We are surrounded by a mountain range of white tops, most taller than either of us. The coastline is hidden, the fog is thickening, and we are honestly beginning to wonder if we will make it back to shore. I am young, maybe nine. The boat is small, perhaps ten feet. And the waves are high, high enough to overturn our craft. The sky rumbles, the clouds billow, and the lightning zigzags.

Dad has directed the boat toward the nearest beach, taking us bow first into the waves. He sits in the rear with a hand on the throttle and his face into the wind. I sit in the front looking back toward him. Rain stings my bare neck and soaks my shirt. One wave after another picks us up and slaps us down. I grab both sides of the boat and hang on.

In vain, I search for the coast. It’s buried by fog. I look for the sun…it’s hidden by the clouds. I look for other boats…I see only waves. Everything I see frightens me. There is only one reassuring sight, the face of my father. Rain-spattered and grimacing, he peers into the storm. Water drips off the bill of his baseball cap, and his shirt is stuck to his skin.

Right then I made a decision. I quit looking at the storm and watched only my father. It just made sense. Watching the waves brought fear; watching my father brought calm. So I focused on Dad. So intent was my gaze that three decades later I can still see him guiding us out of the billows.

God wants us to do the same. He wants us to focus our eyes on him.

And all the riddles and puzzling theological equations will fall into place when we keep our eyes on our Father’s face.

You have said, "Seek my face."My heart says to you,    "Your face, LORD, do I seek." Psalm 27:8 (ESV)