My wife and I with our children

While Father’s Day is usually a fun, happy day for most, it is good to remember that Father’s Day, just as with Mother’s Day, can be a very difficult occasion for many. There are those dads who are gone too soon which can make the day full of grieving. For some it is a reminder of an estranged or strained relationship with their dad. But for some, Father’s Day is a reminder of hopes dashed as the human heart is wired to look for a heroic, stable figure in our fathers and so many simply cannot match up—not even close. I know you’re out there. I hear from you all the time.

To all of you who find Father’s Day to be a difficult one I say this: while our earthly fathers may fail us, God, our heavenly father is the dream. A fantasy come true. He is our loving, steadfast father who never fails and never changes. He is always good, always trustworthy and deeply personal. He is interested in every aspect of your life. He is the greatest listener of all time, even asking you to remember to tell him your deepest feelings, worries and needs the moment you have them and without end. You can even call him daddy. Abba. And he has done more than just been there when we needed him, he has been there when we wanted nothing to do with him. He sings over you. He has written down his love for you and whenever you leave him, he stands, eyes peeled, waiting for your return. And he is, at this very moment, preparing a home for you, and has moved heaven and earth, at the expense of his own cosmic, personal pain, so that you can be with him forever and ever.

My brothers and sisters with our mom and dad (center)

I wish you all a very happy Father’s Day today. I have loved every moment of being a dad. What an honor to father the three wonderful kids God has blessed me with. And I am deeply grateful for my dad. How I miss him.

I pray that if you don’t have a relationship with God, that you’ll look to him today to come into your life. He would like nothing more and neither will you.

Pastor Miles McPherson is a former NFL player, and the founder and Senior Pastor of Rock Church (“the Rock”), located in San Diego, California. McPherson’s trademark style of preaching is direct, humorous, and action-oriented, attracting people of all racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds to the Rock’s weekly services. Since McPherson founded the Rock in February 2000, it has grown to become one of the nation’s largest and most diverse congregations. Today, his church draws 20,000 attendees to its weekly services, through 18 microsites, five campuses, and multiple online services broadcast in Donovan State Prison, Mexico, and throughout the world. The Rock has more than 100 volunteer-led outreach ministries that donate four million dollars’ worth of volunteer services to the surrounding community each year. He and his wife Debbie have three children and reside in San Diego. McPherson is the author of seven previous books (“God in the Mirror,” “Do Something,” “I Don’t Want Your Sex For Now,” “Parenting the Wild Child,” “Bad to the Bone,” “21 Jump Start,” and “The Power of Believing in Your Child”).

For more information, please visit:

https://www.milesmcpherson.com/

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