From the desk of Steve Shultz:
If your own father was abusive and criminal or wonderfully loving, no father on earth remotely provides a perfect picture of our Heavenly Father. However, a really good natural father does at least give us a clue of how truly good that Good can be...in our loving Heavenly Father.
On this Father's Day let this insightful picture speak to you about just how much your Heavenly Father loves His Disobedient children...you and me!
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Garris Elkins:
The Rescuing Love of a Father
"Is anyone crying for help? God is listening, ready to rescue you." Psalm 34: 17, The Message
Father's Day is a day we set aside to celebrate our earthly fathers. Some who read these words do not know their earthly father or were hurt by their father. Others may have had a father who was physically present, but he did not show the love they desperately needed. Others had a father who was fully present and he was able to give love to his children. If your earthly father wasn't there for you, let the following story be the story about your Heavenly Father's love for you. If you had a loving earthly father celebrate the gift of his love.
Hanging at Cliff's Edge
When I was 8 years old, I was a Cub Scout. I still have my little blue Cub Scout hat and yellow bandana. Being a Cub Scout was a big deal for me because it was the first time I was able to wear a uniform. Kids with uniforms feel important and big.
My mom and dad were asked to help locate a suitable park for our group – called a Cub Scout Pack – to have a picnic. We left our home in Los Gatos, California and drove to Stevens Creek Park in the foothills of San Jose. It must have been a weekday because the park was deserted. Mom and dad sat down on one of the benches and my brother and I took off to explore the park.
Dad always told us to never run on trails. I am sure I logged that somewhere in the back of my yet-to-be-developed young brain. Dad's words of wisdom would make sense in about an hour.
Once out of sight of our parents, my brother and I put it in overdrive. As the older brother of 8 years, I assumed the lead over my 6 year old little brother. We ran up and down the trails in our black high-top tennis shoes creating two mobile dust clouds as we crisscrossed the park.
I remember coming to one section of the trail that was cut into a very steep mountainside. This was not a good place to continue running, but we did it anyway. The trail was now only about two feet wide, with the steep mountainside climbing above the trail to my left. The edge of the trail to our right was just as steep as the mountainside and continued downhill for another 10 feet past the trail's edge where the mountainside then went vertical and became the edge of a cliff. The edge of the cliff was suspended 80 feet or so above the rocks below.
I am not sure how it happened but my foot slipped and over the edge I went, sliding down the steep hillside. When I slipped, I landed on my stomach and I was sliding down the slope backwards. At the very edge of the sloping hillside where the vertical cliff edge began, a single, little twig-like plant grew on the dry cliff edge clinging on for its own life. That little twig, all 6 inches of it, caught me in the crotch of my jeans and stopped me. My feet were now dangling in midair over the edge of the cliff.
I didn't dare breath. From the trail, my little brother was taking one last look at his older brother knowing he was about to fall to his death and meet Jesus prematurely. With a whisper I said, "Go get dad!" Off my little brother ran to get help.
As I hung there, with my legs hanging over the cliff and my fingernails dug deep into the dirt, I had time to think. At age 8 there wasn't much of a life to think about. The movie reel that runs when we face a life and death moment, in my case, was a relatively short clip and ran its full contents quickly before my mind's eye. I waited and prayed that the little twig would continue to hold on until help arrived.
In about 10 minutes, I heard my dad running down the trail calling my name. It's OK for a dad to run on trails when his son is hanging on for dear life. I saw my dad come running around the turn on the trail and in one leap he jumped over the edge of the trail while grabbing onto a tree branch that hung above the trail. In one single sweeping move my father had grabbed the branch of the tree and swung down towards me. At the end of the arc of his swing he planted his boot firmly into the steep hillside and grabbed me by the seat of my pants with his free arm. Dad lifted me up off the edge of the cliff and literally tossed me back up onto the trail. I was alive!
On the way home dad never lectured or punished me for my disobedience. The trail and the cliff, along with the impending possibility of my early death, spoke volumes to me. This was one of my first "self-taught moments." I could tell dad was happy to have his boy alive. The greatest lesson I learned that day was that my father would do anything within his power to rescue me. That is what fathers are supposed to do.
The event on that trail took place over fifty years ago. I can still see some of the images from that experience in my mind. The most beautiful thing about that day was seeing my dad arrive on the scene and knowing I would be saved.
The event taught me some things about a father's love.
Fathers Love Their Disobedient Children As Much As Their Obedient Ones
My father warned us not to run on the trails. I knew not to run, but I did it anyway. My disobedience did not change the fact that my father loved me. My disobedience put me in danger, but it never changed how my father felt about me.
That day hanging over the cliff, I could hear my father running towards me. The sound of his boots running down the trail towards me was the most reassuring sound I had ever heard in my eight short years of life. He never stopped to lecture me or make me feel like a failure – he simply ran to my rescue.
The day the prodigal son returned home his father also ran out to meet him. God runs to His children in their time of need because He loves us. Our disobedience never stops Him from showing us His love.
Fathers Come to the Rescue Even When Their Children Have Strayed
No matter where you find your life hanging today, God is willing and ready to come to your rescue. The cliffs of life are going to exist and the fear that comes from hanging over the sharp rocks of a bad decision are very real, but He will come to our rescue. No matter what we are experiencing – nothing can separate us from the Father's love.
Fathers Never Leave Their Kids Hanging to Prove a Point
God isn't trying to prove a point by leaving us hanging onto the cliff edge of life until we finally fall and die. When we cry out to God He comes to our rescue. The love of my earthly father would never leave me hanging over the threat of imminent death to prove that I should not have disobeyed him and run on the trail. Why do we think a perfect and loving Heavenly Father would do anything less?
Like Joshua going into the unconquered Promised Land, there will be times when our circumstances will seem overwhelming. In those times we will need to be rescued if we are going to survive and possess the promise. Sometimes the only way out of a threatening situation is when God comes and makes a way when no way seems possible. We may even step off the trail in an act of disobedience, but no matter where we find ourselves our Heavenly Father has a plan for our rescue.
Fathers Hear the Cry of Their Children and Will Come to Their Rescue
There will never be a circumstance, whether by a disobedient choice of our will or by an accident in life, that God cannot hear our cry for help. We have a tendency to think the depth of our particular sin is so deep that Heaven cannot hear our cry for help. This belief is never true. The Father always hears our cry and He will always come to us. His love for us moves Him towards us no matter what we are experiencing.
Today, as an imperfect earthly father, I want you to know you are deeply loved by your perfect Heavenly Father. He will do anything He can to reach out and take hold of your life and affirm His love for you no matter where the choices of your life have led you. Our God is a rescuing God. He is coming for you. There is no place where you will find yourself that His love cannot reach you. Cry out for Him as you hang onto your desperate place and He will come running because He is your Father and that's what fathers do.
Garris Elkins, Senior Leader
Living Waters Church – Medford, Oregon
Email: info@prophetichorizons.com
Website: livingwatersmedford.org
Garris Elkins' ministry, Prophetic Horizons, is a ministry of teaching, writing and prophecy committed to raising up a prophetic generation to speak to the cultures of our world with the empowered voice of Heaven. Garris and his wife, Jan, are the Senior Leaders of Living Waters Church in Medford, Oregon, and have two grown children, Anna and David.
