Do you remember the day your daughter was born? If you got to be
present at her birth you likely felt the Rush of Holiness that
ushered her into this world. Then right after the delivery there may
have been a brief silent moment, followed by her first breath and a
spirited cry. After that there may have been lots of crying and hugs
and exhales.
All through the Labor process mom’s are coached and encouraged to
breath. But at delivery, everyone holds their breath,
until she takes her first breathe.
So here is a Gospel Truth that is sometimes hard to believe as a dad.
How you felt watching her come into the world, is pretty close to how
God feels every time He looks at you. Genesis describes a God who dug
his hands into the good soil of his creation and then shaped it into
the form of a Man. Then He bent down and breathed Life into this Human
body. I think there was probably a silent pause in Creation just
before Adam inhaled and became a Living Being. I image that there
where hugs and tears in Heaven as his eyes opened, his lungs filled
and he saw His Father, his Creator and his God for the First time. You
and I are his Workmanship and we are claimed and defined by His love
for us and not our performance, good or bad on any given day. That is
Gospel Truth, He gave you your very first breath and he smiles every
time you take another one.
From the first breath we took in this world through the last gasp of breath that releases us to the next,
we are breathing God in and out during the whole span of our lives. We do not need to say His name,
we breathe His name. Many scholars believe “Yahweh”
is the sound made by human breath as we inhale “YAh” and exhale “WEH.”
He is with us in the dark and in the light, when we are
screaming for joy, wailing in sadness, whispering in the silence, or
panting in despair.
Being a dad is not easy. Sometimes the best we can do is to fall forward.
And that is why we need to remind ourselves often that we are known and loved
by a Father who has great confidence and joy in us. This is the same confidence and joy
we hope to release into our daughters. It is the breath of life.
Wherever you are in your own journey, however good or bad you think
you are doing as a dad, know that God is with you and for you; he is closer than your next breath.
The God, who delivered you into this world, will deliver you through whatever hardships, obstacles
or challenges you face as a dad or as a man. So take a big breath and smile, it’s a new day, let’s make it a great one!
Grace and Peace,
Dr. Don Worcester
