It’s been said that the poorest father can leave his children the richest inheritance. I miss my father terribly. I think about him constantly. I keep a picture of him on my computer desktop and right above my tool box in my garage…and the thing that I miss the most…how much he loved me. The way he lit up when he talked about me like I wasn’t there…when I was standing there with him. The times that he would tell me how proud of me he was for who I have become or the way I would feel when I was with him just doing stuff…unstoppably strong…Those defining memories do something to a son’s heart, and a daughter’s heart, that nothing else in this life can match.

From my perspective, as the son…so very important…but from the his perspective, the perspective of dad…to some, to me, perhaps to you…that truth can sometimes be a heavy calling…Because it’s so important and in a way so fragile and in a way so far reaching…that man, I’m terrified to fail. Am I failing? Have I failed? No matter the day’s activities, these questions seem to always come up in my heart when I think about my three kiddos…

I want to encourage you today dads and to encourage my own heart as to how you and I can do right by these littles. No matter what happened yesterday or the year before…today, right now, this short time we have together, I want to equip you with the truth of God of how to correctly, effectively and successfully fulfill this awesome calling as a father. And here’s the key…and the complexity…it’s eternally simple.

I am so quick to over think or to strategize or to agonize…but man I have learned so very much from this uncomplicated Biblical principle. Shut up, step back, return to simplicity. 2 Corinthians 11:3, Paul writes, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” It’s been said, “Complication equals confusion, and confusion leads to inaction.” Here is where so many dads get so condemned and exhausted in their minds as they try to father…complication, confusion, then inaction…let me give offer you some clarity this morning.

Move every priority of life, every priority of thought, every priority of care and contemplation that you have…down a notch and place right at the very top a priority to daily grow-up in your relationship with God. This key and complexity is the cure to confusion and the catalyst to simplicity in being a dad, a husband, a leader, a hero…exactly what they need you to be and what they’ll allow you to be to them…

This is what I make of my life and walk with God (show picture)…how about you…but the truth of it all is simply this…it’s very simple. Abraham literally means, “A father to many.” As he began his walk with God, God blessed him but there is a pattern, a progression of the Lord’s ministry to him that applies to us father’s as well. God’s blessings upon Abraham begin with a promise…Genesis Chapter 12 Verse 2, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.” That promise came with a call…a call for Abraham to believe God.

Abraham believed God and went to where God had told him to go and then God blesses Abraham again. Genesis Chapter 13 Verses 14-15…then again in Genesis Chapter 13 Verse 16 and finally again in Genesis Chapter 15 Verse 5. And here’s the progression…

First God called Abraham and predicated His promises on Abraham deciding to make God his priority…then God blesses the land, the soil you could say and soil is always a picture of the heart in the Bible…think of the parable of the sower. Dads, fathers, men, folks…our hearts have to be right. If your heart is wrong then so too will be your decisions and certainly your priorities. So does that mean be perfect? Nope. Allow the Lord to till up the rocky heart we all have…we have to receive forgiveness and grace and simplicity of heart, man…we’re going to make a thousand mistakes…make sure this is one you do not make. Trying to father those kiddos and love/lead your family without the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit…well I have a video to illustrate that….

God then blesses Abraham speaking of the dust…let God fix your heart and your place will follow…the dust under your feet, where you live, your home, your work, your church, man your place…that will then be next to receive blessing…and finally God then blesses Abraham speaking of the stars…a picture of what we reach for…our goals and our future…it’s so simple…and yet it’s so very complex.

Make growing up in the Lord your priority, believe Him, trust Him…he’ll bless your place…then He’ll remove that heaviness of this calling because then who you’ll be tomorrow is His design…not yours.

Simple in concept, complex in that you have to allow the Lord to lead. But don’t worry, He’s a Good Leader…He’s a Father too…