Lessons on Faith From My Two Fathers

God, my Father in Heaven sent me a father on earth. I am a daughter in both their images. My father on earth- my dad gave me characteristic features such as my high forehead and distinctive Clay family nose. My Father in Heaven gave me a heart that beats to keep my body alive, while it also feels emotions to keep my soul alive. 

God, my Father in Heaven, gave me eyes to see, while my father on earth taught me to use my eyes to see a person not just as they appear, but as they are beyond the surface. God granted me discernment; Dad taught me how to discern. God granted me intelligence, and Dad taught me to always seek knowledge.

God my Father in Heaven teaches ‘And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength…’ and he teaches, ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’

Just as I have always known my Father in Heaven loves me even when I am disobedient, obstinate, and willful; I have always known that my father on earth loves me as I am, imperfect, willful, and stubborn. God’s love is ever present, even though I cannot see Him. Through the years, and the miles apart, Dad, my father on earth’s love has never been in doubt.  I know he loves me, as sure as I know that just as God gave his Son to the world as our Redeemer. Love is an energy that cannot be destroyed.  Love transcends time, space, and dimensions.

As my father on earth transcended this dimension to join my Father in Heaven, the greatest lesson in faith is delivered. God teaches us to have faith in what is unseen, and my Dad has gone from seen to unseen when he passed from this world.

And yet, he is not gone, he is moving from one mountain top to the highest of mountain tops. Dad’s physical decline is no more, he is exalted to join his father and mother, his sister and brother and my brothers in Heaven. The love a daughter feels for her Father on earth and heaven can never be separated, just as it is written in Roman’s, ‘Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

Just as God said, “Be Still and Know that I am God;” I can pause, be still and know that my Father lives.  

Beth Clay – April 2019

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