By Michael Janetis
Father’s Day evokes such a wide span of emotions across the board. For some it brings joyful memories of a man who was a reflection of God’s love, provision and protection in our homes. While for others, it’s a reminder of broken promises, disappointments, abandonment, unresolved pain and a deep seed of rejection.
We all long for a father’s love. Our age is irrelevant to this deep longing for affirmation and the need of a father’s blessing. A father’s blessing is so critical to our emotional and spiritual health and yet it is something so rare in our current day. A father’s blessings tells us who we are, why we are valuable and creates a strong sense of security and purpose in our soul.
Not only does life initiate with the father biologically, but we also receive our identity as we are given his name.
Our image of father also creates our image of God. What we know about the character and nature of our earthly father is superimposed upon our Heavenly Father. We begin seeing our Heavenly Father through the same lens that was formed through the attributes displayed to us in the natural realm.
Some of us have perceived God our entire lives as angry, harsh and critical. He’s the one waiting for us to mess up so He can tell us how we were a mistake. Some of us have had thoughts that have said, “If I could be perfect, if I could perfect my flesh and do everything just right, then I would be worthy of His love and God would accept me. After all, I tried my whole childhood to grasp that attention from the one I called father, so why would my Heavenly Father feel any different about me?”
Many of us have had dreams, God-given dreams our entire lives and we have been waiting for permission from a father to bless us and champion us to run as fast and as hard after these dreams as we can. After all, a true father’s heart is not jealous of his sons or his daughters. A father’s heart rejoices when his children surpass his own measure of success.
For some of us, our fathers weren’t able to give us a father’s blessing, because they passed away or perhaps because they never received one themselves. They never knew what it meant to be a son; so, being a father was something they were never able to give you.
I know this much, you have a Heavenly Father who sees you, hears you, knows you by name. He is the one who knit you together in your mother’s womb with such care and intention. This Father that formed you takes so much delight in you. You are His muse, His poetry, His song, the very crowning jewel of His creation. Your value isn’t based upon your ability to perform. Your identity is not in your success and accomplishments. You are priceless because you are His beloved child! He is a good, good Father!
Michael Janetis is the lead pastor of the soon-to-be-launched Oceans Church located in Destin. Michael and his wife, Jaime, have been married for 20 years. They have three children and reside in Destin. Michael and Jaime have been leading worship together for the last 20 years as worship pastors and have also served as pastoral care pastors. Oceans Church will be located at 834 Hwy. 98 E, in Destin in the Shoreline Village Mall. To find more information on Michael and Jaime and/or Oceans Church, visit them at www.oceanschurch.org.
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