Unlocking the minivan, just like God would

It has often been said that, as a father, it is my responsibility to portray the image of God to my children. While this may sound like a blasphemous statement to some, that really isn't the case. Quite contrary, in fact! It is my duty to exhibit unconditional love, patience, justice, and mercy at all times with the utmost fairness. No doubt, this is a tall order, and apart from the grace of God, an impossible task. But sometimes, whether we know it or not, we are doing just this very thing for our children.

Not long ago, my family and I were preparing to leave the house, I told my five-year old daughter Rachel to go out to the van and get in her car seat. And as children that age often do, she protested. But to her credit, her protest was thoughtful and quite reasonable. She told me: "But Daddy, the van is locked!"

In this great big world, a five-year old can feel pretty small sometimes. And as if to add insult to injury, my daughter is small for her age. To tell her to gain entry to the locked minivan would be the same as telling me to go climb Mount Everest in Bermuda shorts: a desperate impossibility for several reasons. As I often do, my daughter struggled to get her perception beyond herself. Her focus was on her problem, and when viewing it in light of her ability, she was faced with a grave impossibility.


But she failed to recognize a third piece of the puzzle. She did not even begin to consider the intervention of her father. The conversation went much like this:

"Rachel, just go out to the van."  

"But it's locked!" 

"What did I say for you to do?" 

"But it's locked!!"

Our discussion went much like this as I followed her up the stairs, out the back door, down the driveway, and right up to the van. You can probably guess what happened next: Daddy, superhero extraordinaire, unlocked and opened the door for the pint-sized damsel in distress.

I won't try and convince you that I can provide for my family in the same way that God can, but because God provides for them, I too must provide. And I'm not going to say that I can lead my family better than God can, but as God shepherds us, I too must shepherd my family to the best of my abilities, continually trusting Him to equip me for the task.

Sometimes as fathers, we struggle to see the big picture. When the bills are piling up, we don't see God’s provision. When the kids are acting up, we don't see the fruit of patience in ourselves. When the pressure is on, we ignore the presence of God and trust our own judgments to overcome, or at least get by. More often than not, we focus on the problem, but ignore the solution. But just as Rachel neglected to see that her father held the keys, so often we forget that our Father is also holding the keys.

Rachel learned a valuable lesson that day: a loving father will never send you do that which is impossible, but will always provide the means to finish the task. In the same way, your Heavenly Father isn't going to ask you to do that which is impossible for you to do, but only what is impossible for you to do without Him. After all, if all we do is act in our strength, God is never glorified, but we are. But we know that God will get His glory, so He wants us to depend on Him.


My challenge to you is this: Ask God to open your eyes to see something that He wants you to do, and when He reveals it, don't look at the problems surrounding your situation. Focus on your solution. Don't say "I can't do anything without your help, Jesus." Instead, settle yourself down, take a deep breath, and say: "Jesus, I can do anything you set before me when I trust you to strengthen me!"


"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." --Philippians 4:13



Ryan Saffer
Community Site Coordinator