Every father is familiar with the joy and the pain of potty training. Everyone always told us that getting the second child potty trained was easier because they wanted to be like their older sibling. Lies! After months of our youngest daughter hiding behind doors, bushes and walls so she could poop comfortably in her underwear instead of in the toilet, she has finally conceded to using the potty. On occasion, she resists going to the potty because she insists “there’s no more poop in my butt.” You know what they say – “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” We have determined not to let her make a fool of us anymore! Earlier this week, I told her to go sit on the potty and she resisted almost to the point of tears. After she sat down and peed, she said, “Daddy, I’m pooping too!” After which I replied, “I told you that daddy knows best.”
My father passed away when I was 11 and my stepdad was in my life for a few years but currently I don’t have an earthly father. As many who know me or have heard me speak will remember, my situations with earthly fathers have allowed me to enter into a much more profound relationship with my heavenly Father. As I write this, I’m aware that some of those that follow this blog may not be as familiar with my/our heavenly Father – and that’s ok. Whether you know Him well, have never met Him, or you are only casually acquainted, allow me to give you three things that I’ve learned from Him. These three bits of knowledge are my reminder that my Daddy knows best.
IDENTITY
Sometimes we think we know who we are but our Father, or source, knows who He intended us to be. In 1916 Albert Einstein came up with his theory of general relativity but he didn’t like where his calculations were leading him. If the theory was true as has since been confirmed it would mean the universe was not eternal but had a beginning. The theory meant that time, space and matter had a beginning. Everything has a source or a cause. In fact, science is the study of cause and effect. If space, time and matter exist, they must be the effect since they cannot cause themselves to exist. So the cause of those effects must be spaceless, timeless, and immaterial. Who does that sound like? In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “But there is a difficulty about disagreeing with God. He is the source from which all your reasoning power comes: you could not be right and He wrong any more than a stream can rise higher than its own source.” The reason this is important is because if you don’t know where you came from you will never know who you are. Once we are in tune with our source we can understand our own identity and have the wherewithal to be a resource to someone else.
INFLUENCE
It can become easy for us to live a comfortable life where our needs are met but we aren’t focused on exerting the influence our Father has given us. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world” (John 17:15). A Father knows that the most effective place to exert your influence is where it is necessary but not yet prevalent. Your influence is your ability to effectively serve your gift to the world. Once you perfect the purpose that is in you, people will have to come find you if they want what you provide. If you are a world-class dancer and that is what is needed, then expect a phone call. If you are an expert on energy efficiency, someone will eventually be calling you. If you are looking for someone who can use apologetics to teach people to walk and live in their God-given purpose, call me. The bottom line is that eventually someone or some organization will need what you are passionate about and it is at that point that your purpose and your influence converge.
IMPACT
Sometimes we can get so focused on what we’re doing that we can forget to bring our disciples into the process. “Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come” (Psalm 71:18). Our impact is only as great as the reach that we have and longevity we can sustain. Our goal should be to think our purpose or vision through to at least four generations. What’s inside of you should never die with you. Our focus should be to serve our gifts, calling, and talents to the world. My Father told me that He will “fulfill His purpose for me” (Psalm 138:8a). His impact on us, and the world should be mirrored in the impact we attempt to make on others while we are here. Time and time again my Father and our Father has proven that ‘daddy knows best’.
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