My Life

My Life
    A friend of mine is now a grandfather. His daughter is only 20. The father is in his fifties. At first, the father seemed a decent guy (other than the outrageous age difference).  He had a decent job and a good pension from a previous job.  He had never married before and had no children.
     Later, information about his past turned out not so true, and the truth about him was bad.  He had a criminal record that was not relegated to just his past.  It stretched over a thirty year period and contained items that are every parents fears.
     My friend reached a point where he had to share this with his daughter. She replied that "he isn't like that any more."  She told him that if he couldn't accept the father, he should stay out of her life.  She didn't need him.
     Shades of an old Billy Joel song from the eighties, "My Life":
"I don't need you to worry for me cause I'm alright.
I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home.
I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life.
Go ahead with your own life and leave me alone."
     My friend needs all the prayers he can get right now, but that isn't why I share this. Listening to him kind of hit home for me.  No, I don't have any secret children floating around, or a criminal past.  But I do have a heavenly Father.  He has spoken to me about decisions that I have made that, at the very least, have not been in my best interests.  And at times I have responded by telling Him (by my actions), "leave me alone, this is my life."
     My friend is struggling to walk a fine line between being honest with his daughter and not pushing too hard.  I cannot even fathom his pain, but I am reminded of a verse in Ephesians that we just studied.  "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit with whom you were sealed."
     When I sin, and worse, when I persist in my sin, I grieve the very heart of God.  Grace upon grace, He never stops reaching out to me to bring me back to Him and forgive me.  There are still consequences, but He never stops loving me.  He never gives up on me.
     Pray that my friend can continue to offer his daughter grace.  Pray that she sees the truth.  Pray that we recognize those times that we grieve God and that we turn back to Him quickly.
Amen