A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity. Psalm 68:5-6
“Please dont hurt me! I love you, dad. Please dont hurt me!!” This plea I heard yesterday, loud and clear, and it wasn’t the first time! It’s 4am here now, I can’t sleep, and its been a rough week. New neighbors moved in just over a month ago. Yelling, cussing, lots of thuds and banging, abuse, and people pleading not be be hurt… Its brought back some mighty painful memories of my childhood that was so unloving and undesired.
Recently I posted on the internet a picture of a loving father holding a small baby in his hands; lovingingly and gently embracing the little baby while smiling in a look of adoration. A caption was on the picture… words that expressed the truth that every child needs a father. I was really touched by the picture and showed it to some friends. One friend reminded me of a very important clarification to the quote. Every child needs a GOOD father!
We are in such a fatherless generation and world. (Please hear me, men, I am not putting all the blame on men! I have seen and personally experienced some of the devastation and disfunction that women too can and have reeked upon family.) In my own life I had never really had a good father figure (nor mother) until I was I was in my early 20’s. The biological father left while I was still in the womb. The step-father who was the replacement hated children and was adamant that I was NOT his child. The biological mother was no better. Having moved through the foster care system in my teen years, I have known what it means to be fatherless.
The term “father” and the circumstances that perpetuate an individual to become a father (or mother) does not make someone automatically qualified as a mother or father. In fact, I do not believe that someone lacking of love and the nurturing qualities necessary to raise a child in a safe, healthy, and stable manner deserves to be called “mom” or “dad.” I know that literally milions upon millions of people who are not technically orphaned have had to grow up without a real mom or dad in their life… fatherless.
While there are roughly 150 million children who are technically orphaned throughout the world, there are so many more children and adults throughout the world who live fatherless. It gives great hope to my heart to read the promise of Psalm 68:5-6. God is a Father to the Fatherless. He is a GOOD Father. The book of James in the Bible tells us that He gives good and perfect gifts to HIs children. I believe God will be to them a GOOD Father, and wants to give healing, love, favor, and good and perfect gifts as well!
God invites us to also step up and be fathers to the fatherless. His heart is that we would be the solution. Abogar International Ministries is excited for the opportunity to be raising up fathers and mothers who will love on children who literally have no parents. While our focus is finding children who are truly orphaned and/or living in the street and working to provide home, education, family, and hope and opportunity for them, we also want to foster and encourage people to be father-like and mother-like (in the most healthy and godly sense of what those words and positions mean) in a world that finds itself so fatherless.
Please prayerfully consider today how YOU too can be like the GOOD Father. Love someone near you who has not had a “mom” or “dad”! Dont look at their clothes, piercings, tatoos, bad behaviors and addictions, sad circumstances, or disfunctions and just write them off! Take a little time out of your day, and busy lifestyle, and allow God to be the father to the fatherless through YOU!! People need to know that they are loved, special, and have great value and worth! Let’s become a generation that sees the number of fatherless decrease more and more!! Let’s follow God’s example and become GOOD Fathers to the Fatherless!!