October 9, 2020
Exactly 40 years ago tonight, I became fatherless.

God’s promises to the fatherless have always been especially precious to me because of what happened in my life at the tender age of 12.
Though my own loss of my dad was especially traumatic because he died suddenly and unexpectedly right before my eyes, there are probably lots of ways to lose a father. Some people, even though their fathers are still alive, have lost them through neglect or abandonment. Truly, my heart deeply grieves this particular kind of loss.

I have wondered if the Lord in His kindness is especially, supernaturally, unmeasurably kind to daughters without earthly dads.
I have found in scripture and through my experience, the answer is an absolute yes.

“But you do see…you have been the helper of the fatherless.”
Psalm 10:14

Truths found throughout Psalm 10 are very precious to the orphan-like.
God is described as a protector and defender, breaking the arm of the wicked and doing justice to the fatherless.
It’s true, He is relentless in love and brutally protective of His beloved who are vulnerable. He is the strengthener of hurting hearts.
And our heavenly Father is described as One who not only hears the desires of the afflicted, His ear is inclined toward them.
Oh, let your heart bask in the warmth of these truths!

The God who protects, defends, and helps us unfailingly is very near and He never takes His eyes off His beloved.
Abba Father sees and knows and hears… and His ear is available and indeed bent toward His beloved.

My dad died at forty years old, and it’s been forty years since he’s been gone. For me, it seems like a long time to live without a dad, and yet it could have been yesterday for how clearly I remember the events of that night.
I hope you are deeply comforted like I am by the truth of God’s Word that we don’t walk alone, God is with us, Immanuel, and He knows all (!) about what we have walked and are walking through. There isn’t one thing that we have needed that He has withheld from us.

“For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” Deuteronomy 2:7

If like me, you live with an earthly, father-shaped void or if you have wounds or disappointments that reflect a fatherly loss of a different kind, I hope these seeds of truth bring solace to your soul. May they take root, flourish within you and bring abundant peace. May the weight of these promises settle over and within you as God faithfully, abundantly, exceedingly overflows your heart with His Fatherly delight and love.