Father’s Day was Sunday. Why would I be talking about it now? Because those words still linger in the hearts of young boys and girls, as well as grown men and women. Today. In the moment.
Since publishing my new book, Dear Dad, last month, I’ve heard countless stories from those who grew up without a father and how it’s still affecting their lives today. It breaks my heart. It makes me angry.
I find myself wanting to grab every dad by the collar of his shirt, get in his face and ask, “Are you seeing this?”
However, the more people I talk to, the more I realize we are living in the middle of a spiritual attack. Satan loves the absence of a father. Why wouldn’t he?
Last week I met a man named Joseph. He assisted me in getting a phone upgrade, which turned into two days of an adventure, after bringing my parents back to the store and upgrading them to phones that weren’t prehistoric.
It turns out his father was killed when he was a boy. In the blink of an eye his life changed. He grew up without a dad. He turned to drugs. He tried to fill the void of his father’s absence with other things. Abandonment was all he felt, like so many of us who grew up without fathers.
It saddens my heart to see so many hurting, but it angers me even more. Now I’m angry enough to stand up and fight. To fight a battle that we can win. To fight with prayer.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. – Ephesians 6:12
Satan attacked my father with addictions and his absence caused terrible pain in my life. I tried everything to fill the void: drugs, alcohol, food, relationships.
But the victory is mine because I have overcome!
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. – 1 John 4:4
We may be in a battle, but we are the victors! We must continue to fight to good fight. Pray for fathers. Pray for the fatherless. The devil can’t stand up to Scripture, which means he can’t stand up to us when God’s Word is rolling off our lips.
Don’t let the absence of your father steer your life today. Stand up and proclaim victory, for God is father of the fatherless.
Join me in prayer today for all fathers. May they let God guide the course of their lives. May they invest in their families. May they stand on the truth.