To Lead Them with Strong Hands

 

"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25

This is a song for fathers and husbands today and when I heard it this morning I knew I had to share it. The Father continues to “disturb me” (see Disturbing Steps and Dreaming My Life Away and Spirit Warrior) and that is such a good thing.

I feel the need to become dangerous…let me explain.

God’s sons are dangerous men; living and loving like their heavenly Father. Sons freely give themselves over to the hands of an unsafe God. (I’ll pause for a moment and let that sink in; you may hum if you like). God is love, but He is not safe. Don’t agree? Just ask yourself this question. Was the mission Jesus carried out “safe”? The truth is that once we are rewritten into the story as sons, our safety is at the discretion of the Father. He delivers, He protects, He provides; that all adds up security and it may even give us a safe feeling. Yes, God deals with issues of safety but He is more concerned with issues of our character.

What it comes down to is that my idea of “safe” is different from God’s. Mine involves not being exposed to danger, any kind, anywhere. I daydream of performing risky, daredevil like actions. I want to be the guy who saves the day…I just want to be safe while I doing it! It seems that I’m often asking God to be my bodyguard instead of changing the “somebody” I am.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret on how to be heroic…let the Father make you into a son. Allow the rewrite of your story…it’s a step of faith and it’s risky. I know of no greater risk than to put your life in the hands of another. To say, “not my will but yours be done”, is some of the bravest words ever spoken. Sons speak this way; it’s typical of their vocabulary. Their speech is full of words of sacrifice, giving, surrendering and pouring out. Sons get the picture; they see their part and seize the moment, and all while giving way to the father’s plan to flourish.

Jesus gutted out His experience in the garden, He agonized over the cost He was destined to pay. Yet, the Son bowed all He was to the Father’s will, shifting the focus away from the cup to purposefully draining its contents. There was nothing casual about the way Jesus walked out His sonship.

Our call to fathering, our call to being a husband is part of our walk as His sons. Casual is not an option, the danger is too great…the cost…greater still. When we are disturbed by the Father, He “passionates” our being, empowers the way we
love our wives and the way we father our children. If we focus on helping our children develop Godly character, if we love our wives like Christ loves the Church, if we just trust Him, we can change a little bit of the world in this manner.

That’s the kid of dangerous man I want to be….

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

In and for Him,
Jay

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