Thought for the Week
After hearing a discussion on various translations of the Bible, one man said: 'I prefer my mother's translation, because she translated it into everyday life.' Are you doing that?
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Celebrating a father’s 94th birthday when he doesn’t look, act or even think ‘old’ takes a bit to get into. For example, having arrived at his new place I noticed he had laid pavers to the clothes line, built a three-tiered stand of timber to hold his newly potted plants, heard that he had cooked some meals for when the rest of the family arrived the next day and then refused help to prepare dinner for the two of us ... I mean, come on Dad, you’re supposed to be expecting US to look after YOU!!!!
Some would say he is an independent old coot. I say it is the promises of the blessings of Abraham that we have been looking at lately, coming into effect in my Dad’s life.
Having walked with Jesus for over 70 years must have its benefits. You tend to learn a few things. Dad has learned to trust God no matter what. Spending over 20 years on the mission field in some very primitive conditions, getting very little support from churches back home, and getting supplies carried in once a month (if the rivers aren’t flooded) helps you to depend on the promises in the Word.
These valuable lessons did not change once he came home. Dad and Mum had just arrived home for a break from PNG, Mum had gone shopping and was replenishing the pantry when she suffered a major stroke. Life was never the same again for them. Mum eventually went to a nursing home from hospital where Dad attended every day to be with her helping her to cope. Faith grows in the face of adversity when you have already learned to trust God and through it all, Dad did exactly that. When Mum passed away Christmas five years ago, Dad trusted God knowing he does ALL things well. When Mum’s dog died, his last real connection to the woman he loved, had worked with, had lived together with for over 60 years, it broke him up. But it NEVER shook has faith in the One he had learned to depend on, no matter what.
As his son, the one thing I want to learn from my Dad is to trust God in the same way.
We might have had a rocky start as father and son, but it’s not how you start but how you finish. Thank God for a Dad who has fathered me in the ways of faith, trust and love.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Ps Ray