Craig Smith

Psalm 68:5



Chorus

Father, father me, take my life

And father me



I am a child without a father's hand to hold

To lead and comfort me

A helpless offspring without a loving home

Outside on my own

Come and father me



Chorus



Let me abide within the shadow

Of Your wings

Protected by the wisdom of Your love

Knowing the assurance a father's love will bring

Come and father me



Chorus



I can't remember when I first realized I had a father. It just seems as if

Dad were always there--loving me, having answers to all my questions,

protecting me, disciplining me, comforting me when I was hurt. So often, we

take for granted the presence of an important "someone" in our lives, not

realizing how dependent we are upon that person. The first time I

understood the significance of this was when I was about seven years old.

My father took my older brother and me to a Cardinal baseball game in St.

Louis. After the game, Dad stopped along the street outside the stadium to

buy a souvenir for my younger brother who was not with us. Since in my

seven-year-old wisdom I thought I know just exactly where we had parked. I

did not wait on Dad and my brother, but took off through the crowd for the

car. What I did not know was that we had come out another exit on a

different side of the stadium and there were parking lots on all four sides

of the stadium. When I arrived at the exact spot I remembered the car being

parked, it was nowhere to be seen. A chill ran through me--then panic! I

ran back to where Dad had stopped--he was gone. For the first time in my

life, I was lost. There I was in a big, strange city with thousands of people

going in every direction, but I was the loneliest person in the world. I

wanted and needed my father. I turned around and headed back to the

parking lot again to make sure the car wasn't there, and I came upon a

policeman directing traffic. After listening to my problem, he made me stay

with him, because he know my father would come back looking for me. Sure

enough, in a few minutes my Dad came running toward me, picked me up in his

arms, and gave me a big hug. I had been lost--but he found me.



Just as my father has been with me since long before my conscious memory,

our Heavenly Father has been ever present with us since before the

beginning of time. He promises in 2 Corinthians 6:18, "I will be a father to

you, and you will be my sons and daughters." He is there when we are lost in

the crowd and lonely, ever waiting for us to be still and seek Him. He is

there waiting to pick us up in His arms and give us a big hug. He will cover

us and give us refuge under His wings (Psalms 91:4), much like a mother hen

gathers her little chicks under her wings to protect them from danger. He

is there and concerned about even one lost little boy in the crowd, for

Jesus taught that the Shepherd will go look for one lost sheep even while

the other ninety-nine are safe, and that our "Father is not willing that any

of these little ones should be lost." (Matthew 18:12--14) Yes, our Heavenly

Father desires for us to come to Him as a little child (Matthew 18:4, Mark

10:15) and allow Him to "father us." What loving, comforting arms He has!--

David Stubblefield