Of Fathers and SonsSample

Today’s analogy is:  “Fathers protect their sons.”

I took my son Caleb for a hike the other day.  I’ve been on this particular hike several times before, but for my son it was the first time.

Part of the hike traverses a steep, wide shale slide that angles sharply off to the valley floor over 1000 feet below.  It’s not terribly treacherous, but neither is it for the faint of heart.  

So naturally, as my six-year-old son made his way across this shale slide, I watched him like a hawk, ready to grab him any instant.

And guess what?  About a third of the way across, my little son started giving me advice!  “You know dad, I think the way you need to step across the rocks is like this…” “Dad, let me show you the right way to walk on this shale…”

Hah! This little guy is only safe because I’m hovering at his side, and yet he’s so confident that he thinks he knows better than me!  And then God spoke to my heart:  how often do my prayers sound just like my son? “God please change so-and-so’s mind so they see things my way.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we can’t talk to God about injustices or even ask him to change something.  But fairly often I cross the line and essentially start advising God on how best to run the place.

I’m comforted to know I’m not the only Jesus-follower with this tendency (Saint Peter, I’m looking at you…) but I’m especially comforted to read about Jesus’s strong, caring, fatherly responses to his overconfident disciple, Simon Peter.  If you see yourself in today’s Bible readings, be comforted that Jesus loves and cares for you as much as he did for Peter.