Today’s faithful fathers are fewer then ever before in our country’s history, and many children suffer intensely without one. Dedicated dads have a tough job, having to buck cultural trends by not just sticking with their role but pouring steady effort into their children every day. The energy and time for that has to be taken from someplace else in their lives, and those who commit and follow through deserve to be honored not just annually but once a month, or weekly, or better yet every day.

Although I shared in my brother-in-law’s Fathers Day celebration today, only one of my kids could attend (Lars), and I worried about the other 6, all in faraway places and all without a dad. Birgitta and I talked it through yesterday, and Linnea posted a beautiful blog-tribute to her father. (www.LinneaCurington.com) But how many of them have suffered pain today?

I remember the great joy I felt in watching Nate become a father for the first time in 1973. Baby Nelson gave him that title, and although Nate hadn’t been around babies (ever), the love he felt for his little guy was immediate and powerful. To me, as a young mama, watching him study the new baby on his lap was fulfilling and even sexy. (Go figure.)

He was committed to parenting for the long haul and was always mystified when another father would walk out on his children. “I can’t understand it,” he’d say, shaking his head. “That guy had a part in bringing them into this world. How could he leave them?” It was the farthest thing from his intention.

I know that scenario was heavy on his mind when he learned he would soon die. It was unthinkable that cancer or anything else would force him to leave his children, a picture too closely related to those fathers he vilified. He was silent on the issue while he was sick, but as he talked to the seven offspring he loved so intensely, his face confirmed the ache in his heart, knowing he would soon go.

Nate needn’t have worried, though. The Lord had immediate plans to step in for him. In Scripture God refers to himself as a Father, offering to treat believers as his own children. And Jesus refers to him as a Heavenly Father to those who accept him.

All of us need the guidance and protection of a wise father, and God is not just a substitute for an earthly father but a superior one. Although he places human fathers over children and uses them as the channel of his wisdom to, and care of them, in the absence of that important man, he steps in and does it himself.

I’m sure Nate’s children all missed him greatly today. I’m not sure how many of them suffered, but I do know God the Father was and is available to soothe their grief and fill their emptiness.

“His name is the Lord—rejoice in his presence! Father to the fatherless, this is God.” (Psalm 68:4,5)