Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? Psalm 139: 7 NKJV

I enjoy driving through the countryside and watching cows, serenely munching on lush green grass. But many years ago, when I worked for a farmer I discovered a little-known fact. Cows are fast! Okay, maybe not as swift as cheetahs, but they can travel just a little faster than a boy chasing them on foot. That reality dawned on me the morning when one made it through a break in the fence. When I first saw her, she was happily chomping on the grass just outside of the pasture. “This should be easy,” I thought. “I’ll just circle around and drive her back into her field.” But as soon as that cow spotted me, she headed in the opposite direction, and no matter how fast I jogged, she ran just a little faster! Eventually, with some help from one of the other workers on horseback, we were able to get her home.

King David didn’t have cows to care for, but he had learned the same lesson from sheep, who like our cow, believed that the best pastures grew outside their own familiar meadow. And our souls, just like cows and sheep, easily wander from the pastures that God has prepared for us. But when David sinned and ran from God’s call, He came to realize, that no matter how far he ran, God would always run a little further. No matter where he tried to hide, God could see him, and no matter how deep a pit he had fallen into, God was still willing to pull him out. If you have been running from God and feel hopelessly lost, don’t despair. All He is asking you to do is turn around. Wherever you are, He is right there with you and if you are willing to follow Him, He will do whatever it takes to bring you home again!

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 
Psalm 103:13

Over the years my dad became my best friend, yet when, we met one afternoon at the courthouse, I didn’t even recognize him. Now, it wasn’t that dad had changed all that much, it was just the fact that by that day when I was fifteen years old, I had only met him twice. We were all at that courthouse that day because my mom, and stepdad were working on having me adopted, but the procedures allowed my father an opportunity to respond. I truly had no idea of what was going on or of the dynamics between my parents. While I stood outside with my sister, my mom went in with my stepfather to the judge’s chambers and talked for a long time behind closed doors. While we waited, I did notice this oddly familiar man sitting on a bench across the hall from us, but I truthfully had no idea of who he was or what he was doing there. Finally, my mom came out and they called my name. Except for watching the Perry Mason show, I had never seen a judge, so I nervously entered, wondering if I was going to get into trouble. After the doors closed behind me, the judge invited me to sit down, then he asked a simple question. “Do you like your father?”

“I have no idea.” I answered truthfully. “I don’t know who he is.”

Now, I don’t recall if I was asked anything else, but because of that one brief conversation, my dad was granted visitation rights, and he determinedly began to build a relationship with me.

This being Father’s Day, I’m sure some of you can share about going fishing with your dad, heading out for vacation, or being taught how to ride a bike. With my dad and I, things were different. Dad was just a nice stranger who lived a couple of hours away and wanted to take me out to lunch. I spent most of that first year being introduced to a horde of aunts and uncles who in old-fashioned Italian style, kissed me on both cheeks, and gave me big hugs. Except for my mother, no one had ever hugged me since I was a baby, and I was relieved that my teenaged cousins were a lot less expressive! But strange as my dad and my newly discovered family seemed to me, I loved the fact that I was accepted, not because of anything I had done or what I looked like (though everyone said I looked like dad!). They included me in their lives because we were family. On this Father’s Day, let’s try to remember that God desperately wants us to come to know Him. Though the world stakes its claims on us, because of our sins, the courtroom proceedings aren’t over yet. Our compassionate Heavenly Father sits patiently just outside the judge’s chambers and through the legal authority given Him through the Cross of Calvary is ready to claim us as his child and to take us home to live with Him forever!