According to Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, the word, “Fatherless” has two definitions. The first is: Destitute of a living father; as, a fatherless child. The second definition is the one that is even more full of heartache: Without a known author.

I see people struggling in this world around us. One of many problems is the absence of fathers. Many people have never known their earthly father, or what they have known has been filled with pain and heartbreak.  When I read that second definition, the powerful impact of a father really hit me; without a known author.  I believe a large part of the pain of people without fathers is that they don’t know where they came from. For many of us that share our father’s name, but not a relationship, this is especially painful. Our father’s determine our last name. Our father’s help shape us, mold us, and impact us in countless negative or positive ways.

For many of us, the word father means security, safety, and identity. Father means laughter, silliness, joy, and fun. However, I find that many of us have a lot of pain associated with the word father. For many, father means absent, abandoned, abused, forgotten, hurt, and distant. I am always mindful of this when I look at social media. I wonder how many people have lost their fathers or fathers that have lost their children and are grieving on Father’s Day and the days around it.

I believe Fatherhood is an incredibly high calling, not only bestowed on those that have biological children, but on every man. Men have the ability to love and show protection to those that they influence. I look back over my life and all the men that have “fathered” me with love and mercy. They were not my biological father, but they have spoken words of love and affirmation to me at times when I desperately needed it. I look at my husband that loves many people that are not biologically his. I look at my Pastor and other men of God around me and the power of influence that they have on the fatherless around them. When I see men act like their Father God, I am reminded of Psalms 10:14, “But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.”

To all the men and women that feel hurt about Father’s Day, my heart hurts for you. If you lost your father, or never knew him, I hurt with you. If your father was a man that brought pain and not protection, I grieve with you. If you wish your dad knew your heavenly Father, I will be praying for his salvation with you.

If you are a man desperate to be a father, I pray that God will fulfill that desire, either with biological or spiritual sons and daughters. To all the fatherless on Father’s Day, I want to remind you of what the word of God says in Psalms 68:5, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” We are never without a known author. God promises to love those of us that feel we have no meaningful identity. He is a good Father that claims us as His very own. Find His comfort today.

Courtnay Aycock