John Esene

      In our world of today, we do not celebrate people when they are alive until they die, then we will proudly tell the world how good they have been. Please as we celebrate “Fathers’ Day” let us be proud of them and show our true appreciations to them. You do not know if they will be there next year for same celebration. Some years ago, when a man clocked 80, he charged his children and wife to appreciate him before he dies. His family used 3 cows and surplus foods and drinks to celebrate him and he was proud of them. And few months later died. So, give your parents awards now that they are alive!

     God who made you the caretaker of your family has a plan for you and the family. Therefore, when you are in difficulty, cry to God who has special passion for children, widows, orphans and the oppressed. God is not far from you and your family. He watches over you all and He is ready to come to your aid when you call on Him. He said in 2 Chronicles 7:15, “Now my eyes are open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is offered in this place.” The God of impossibility can change your ugly situation within a second. So, don’t die in silence!

     A good father and husband does not expose his household to relations, friends, etc. when things go wrong. The outsiders or spectators may not forget what you told them about your family members especially the negative aspects even when you must have forgotten such issues. Yes, before you blame the goat and lizard for climbing a collapsed wall, blame the collapsed wall. This is one of the reasons why you have to be calm when angry with any member of your household.

 

      When you observe that a raging storm is trying to overturn your family’s boat through your wife and children, try to cast a smile of understanding, forgiveness, acceptance, hope, celebration, healing and oneness at them sincerely to heal everyone as Jesus desires. It may not be easy but possible with God on your side. “But exhaust one another daily; while it is called ‘Today’, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Heb 3:13.

      Eph. 5:25 advised “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the Church and gave his life for it. God said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.’ So they are no longer two but one. Man must not separate, then, what God has joined together” Mt. 19:5. 

      Like young David, the shepherd boy, a father have to wrestle with the family problems which come in form of accommodation, feeding, education, etc. as the head of your family without anyone showing appreciation for your toil because your benefactors and others see it as your responsibility. Your parents did it for you and you too have to do it for your household.

     As Moses needed Aaron to support his hand while the war was raging, a husband or father needs the help of his wife and children to enable him proffer solutions to some specific problems at the hills and valleys of life. You do not know if your wife or child will turn round to rescue you from your problems. In January 2019, a South African father went to work backing his son, Dominic Gabriel Letlotlo. His wife went for an interview and had no baby sitter to take care of the baby; hence, he had to back his baby to work. Yes, he values his baby and must go to work: he did not care what people would say. When this child grows up, he too will care for his father.

      In our quest for money to meet our family needs, power and position we hardly have time for our wives and children. A father should have time to listen to his children and wife to know their true problems so as to proffer solution to them. It is no use telling your wife or child what you think they have to say: you can’t look at an egg and say, “This will produce a cock or hen”. When you jump to conclusion without hearing the complainant, you will multiply his or her problem. Unless we learn how to listen to people, we may not be able to listen to God during our personal prayer.   

 

      Fathers, see yourselves as a temporary shepherds to your families and those under your care, you will be able to follow the footsteps of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ who laid down His life for His sheep. Then you will commune with the Holy Spirit who will direct you regarding pasturing His sheep under you. Only the grace of God can bring you a successful pasturing.      

      “Father! You have given them to me, and I want them to be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory” Jn. 17:24. We see how Jesus prayed passionately to the Father for his followers, before he was arrested and crucified. Every man is expected to learn from our Lord how to care for those God entrusted to his care. God who gave a wife and children to you as gifts wants you to shepherd them to safety.

      The Lord is your strength. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise early and go late to rest. Lo, sons are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit from the womb a reward.” Ps 127:1-2. 

       Psalm 128: 2-4 says “You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Lo, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord!” to all fathers, I say HAPPY FATHERS DAY! May God bless and secure your family in Jesus’ Name!