As a father to three beautiful daughters, I have been blessed to be taught by them. I have been taught to braid hair, how to have a tea party, how to act absolutely ridiculous and be OK with it. But the greatest lesson I have learned from them is how to trust.

 

As Christians we know that we have a Father that loves us, yet perhaps, through our experiences with our own fathers or with people in general we cannot let go of past hurt. We cannot allow ourselves to trust the Creator of the universe.

 

As both a father and a child of God I am reminded daily of how much I should trust God and how much God loves me. I look at my three daughters and see that they worry for nothing; they don't worry about clothes, they don't worry about housing, and they don't worry about food. Much like what Matthew 6:26 says in the Message paraphrase, my daughters are careless in the care of their father.

 

As I watched my youngest daughter the other day, and saw how much she trusted me, I was put in my place of how much I need to trust God. When my children want something, they ask me. They look to me to provide for them. This opened my eyes to the truth of Matthew 7:11: "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

 

We sing multiple songs in our churches today that deal with the issue of surrendering to God. With "I Surrender All" originally written by J.W. Van DeVenter in 1896, we proclaim, "All to Jesus I surrender / All to Him I freely give / I will ever love and trust Him / In His presence daily live." And in "I Surrender" by Hillsong United we sing, "Here I am / Down on my knees again/Surrendering all / Surrendering all / Find me here / Lord as You draw me near / Desperate for You / Desperate for You / I surrender." 

Many times I catch myself singing these songs with all my heart yet still not truly believing and still not truly trusting God for my everything by surrendering everything to Him.

 

Where I need to find myself is in the spot where I am in the arms of Father, fully trusting and believing that He will really take care of. And this is where I reflect on the lyrics of "In the Arms" written by Carlos Whitaker. "In the arms of the Father / There is mercy and love / He will never forsake us / We will trust in His love" and the second verse "In the arms of the Father / There is freedom to live / There is hope for the future / There is healing and rest."

 

It is about recognizing who my Father truly is and that He holds me closely in His arms much in the same way that I would hold my own daughters. Before I can surrender, I need to trust that He has me in His everlasting arms of grace. A place of mercy, love, freedom and hope.

 

I love being a father. Each day is a lesson about trust and dependence, a lesson I learn from my children.