“You hold her, I’ll hold you, and God will hold me.”  

Altho we have known this couple for decades, it wasn’t until this past week that I heard this heart-wrenching story of their last hours with the little one they lost.  The mother and I were standing in her kitchen chatting when she told me the conversation she and her husband had had shortly before the death of their daughter many years ago.  It brought tears to my eyes and has stayed with me all week.

These lifetime friends have been examples to us of how to live close to God.  Together they have raised 20 children – 5 of their own and 15 children no one wanted because of physical and/or mental handicaps.  These unwanted children are the offspring of drug addicts, derelicts, and incarcerated parents.  Yet our friends have given their lives to loving, nurturing, training, and leading them by example.

They were blessed with four healthy children of their own, but when their fifth was born, it became evident that she had a serious congenital liver ailment.  There had been repeated surgeries, and many close calls over the course of her short 4 years and 9 months of life. During her final hospitalization, her grief-stricken mother told her husband that she just couldn’t bring herself to hold her for the last time.  This is what he told her, “You hold her, I’ll hold you, and God will hold me.”  

This couple has faced so many heartaches and challenges as they cared for their own huge family and the church he pastored, yet they remain faithful and happy to this day.  They didn’t let their troubles tear them apart.  When we left their house last week, as they waved goodbye to us, they were holding each other.  There they stood, together.  It symbolized how they’ve made it through a difficult life.  “I’ll hold you, and God will hold me.”

As if to pound the point home, in the last few days a relative and a friend poured out painful stories of the fathers of their children who destroyed their families instead of holding them together.  One father eats the best steak money can buy in front of his hungry children without offering them a bite.  Another physically abused the mother of his children.  

Why am I telling you sad stories?  Why am I talking about fathers?  You may already have a broken heart over a father that shirked his duty.  What I want to remind us all is that we have a perfect Father in heaven who never fails us.  Indeed, he holds us with loving tenderness.  He always cares for us.  In fact, he can and does think of each of us constantly since he is unlimited.  How happy we are that we are his dearly loved children!

From the pages of Torah to the prophets God tells his people that he is their Father:  

who made them for a purpose
…The LORD…Isn’t he your Father who created you?
Has he not made you and established you?  Moses in Deuteronomy 32:6
O Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are the potter.
We all are formed by your hand.  Isaiah 64:8

who tenderly cares for them
“… and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”   Deuteronomy 1:31
you are precious to me.
You are honored, and I love you.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you.

I will gather you and your children from east and west.
I will say to the north and south,
‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel
from the distant corners of the earth.  Isaiah 43:4-6

who offers compassion and mercy
“As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.”  Psalm 103:13
Surely you are still our Father!
Even if Abraham and Jacob would disown us,
Lord, you would still be our Father.
You are our Redeemer from ages past.  Isaiah 63:16

Who has a good plan for them
…those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name.  “They will be my people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child.”  Malachi 3:17

In the New Testament, Jesus teaches us to love, obey, and trust our Father.  In the book of John, alone, there are 107 instances of Jesus calling God, Father.  The New Testament continues the Old Testament theme of our Father God: 

who gives us good things
So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.    Jesus in Matthew 7:11
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. James 1:17

who is merciful and comforts us
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.  2 Corinthians 1:3 

who is tenderly affectionate
And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”  (Abba is an endearing term similar to our Daddy). Galatians 4:6
See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!  1 John 3:1

who tenderly cares for us
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope,  comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.  2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

who has a good plan for us
Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.  2 John 1:3

Knowing we have a Father in heaven who is our perfect father enables us to go forward in assurance even when earthly fathers fail us.