A Father to the Fatherless is God, the Almighty

Father.

 

Father is a figure we all need. Many of us consider our father as our hero or our guide. My daughter used to say, "Dad. I love you because you listen to me." I used to praise my father for his sacrificial love for his younger brothers and for how he denied himself to raise them up to be successful humans. He came to Kerala 60 years ago. At that time, he didn't know Malayalam or Malayalis. His wife still struggles to buy groceries from a Malayali shop. Still, they managed. Despite a lack of education, money, and people of their own tribe, Papa built a successful business and took good care of his children and extended family. Even so, no one can be right or great in every matter. After my conversion to Jesus Christ, he was extremely angry with me and cast me out of his house for a brief time. Papa suffered a bad name in his society because of me. When I left, I was left with nothing but God.

 

Even now, some of my relatives find it challenging to accept me and include me because of my relationship with Jesus and the church. My father is a good man, and he did love us. But the same father behaved like the OT Pharaoh after I followed Christ. Priorities. I had some forgettable experiences, but God told me to love my parents nevertheless. Now, as they approach their second childhood – particularly mummy – God gave me the opportunity to serve them at home for five good years. I was not happy to stay back to help them. My circumstances –divorce– forced me to stay. During this time, I learned to cook better and could take care of my mother as she had taken care of me in my childhood. However, the divorce and rejections from many fronts confounded me. How can God be with them if they are so hateful, selfish, and un-inclusive? I thought as I reflected on the attitude of many Christ-followers, whom I had admired twenty years ago.

 

Nevertheless, Faith in God's Sovereign love sustained me through the challenging times. Even now, I cannot say that I have made it in life. My friends look at me and say, "You have made a mess of your life by following Jesus Christ. You have no family, and you seem to struggle with your career even now." However, God's word instructs me to give thanks to God in all circumstances. I try to do this as much as I can, even as I reflect on why God allows wicked people to attack the weak and does nothing about the wicked, even though his just ones perish. Today, as I struggled with this question, God reminded me of this verse, as he has done in the past, that he is my real father who cares for me. A father to the fatherless... is God in his holy dwelling. –Psalm 68:5

 

My life circumstances and my Christian faith might make me feel abandoned and alone in this world. In a sense, we are all orphans and alone, even when surrounded by friends and family. Nobody can know our inner yearnings and the pain we hide from the world except God. The same loving Father, who gave his only Son for us to forgive our sins even when we behaved like his enemies, is alive and available to us. He has given us the right to call him "Abba, Dad, Papa..." whatever we call our earthly father. However, unlike our earthly fathers, he is ever-loving and always benevolent. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is always there with us and for us. I used to think that even if my earthly father hates me because of my Christian faith and abandons me, my mentors and friends in Christ would care for me. I was so wrong.

 

Even my father-in-law, a man whom I once loved, abandoned me and charged me with serious allegations of things I never did. I realised that all relationships in this world are temporary. We may have saved people's lives by our timely interventions, but they won't remember anything good we did for them until they have another need. The world works on the principle: "I can scratch your back if you scratch mine." But God's love is everlasting. Today, as I feel deeply alone, this wonderful verse, composed by a prayerful man, comforts my heart. A father to the fatherless... is God in his holy dwelling. –Psalm 68:5

 

“Yes. Even if my earthly parents, relatives, or friends abandon me, I have a Father who has loved me eternally. His love has no limits... no bounds. He is...a father to the Christ-follower from a Hindu or Muslim family... a father to persecuted Christ-followers willing to go all the way despite tragedies along the way... a father to those abandoned by the Church and elites of the Christian society... a father to falsely accused and harassed human beings... a father to the New Testament learner whose bosses are looking for more signs of Christian fidelity... a father to the one whose in-laws earnestly carry all the good name in exchange for giving him a terrible reputation in his early forties... a father to an apparently fatherless and forsaken Manoj Kumar Khatore is God, the almighty.”