Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
10 7 2026
The Father Who Turns His Face Toward You
For many of us, there was a day when we were little that our dads were our heroes. We could be face-to-face with them every day. They could do anything, fix everything, give us anything. Dad ruled. His presence made the world safe.
But some of you never had that father-child relationship. Others had a good dad whose death left an emptiness nobody else could fill. The word “father” can awaken gratitude, grief, or a question we have carried for years:
Why weren’t you there when I needed you?
Jesus knew perfect fellowship with His Father. Yet on the cross, bearing our sins, He cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). (The only cry out recorded for Christ). That cry came about three in the afternoon, the exact time the Passover lambs were slaughtered in the temple. Our Savior entered suffering deeper than we can comprehend, so that, through Him, we could be reconciled to God.
Father God turned His back to Jesus just before that cry…
so Father could turn His face toward you.
Because of Jesus, we can come before the Father as His children. Whatever your earthly father gave you…or failed to give you…your Heavenly Father turns His face towards you. Scripture calls Him a father to the fatherless and a defender of widows. (Psalm 68:5)
He doesn’t ask you to pretend your history was different. He didn’t hide His scars and doesn’t ask you to. He meets you within them. If your dad was loving, you should thank God for that gift. If he was absent, hurtful, or has passed away, you can bring that ache to the Father, who promises never to leave or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) Forgive him… and if need be forgive him again. Don’t go through life shackled by the weight of that hurt, because it also becomes your filter for your life, with your family.
Listen, Father God wants to teach you to become a spiritual father to someone else. Your testimony of how God met you in that absence can be a light of encouragement to a person still wondering whether anyone cares.
I heard the phrase “dedicated to becoming a good father.” Dedicated. That word carries hope, but sometimes it also carries years of regret. I believe down deep, every father comes to a place to want to grow beyond his past, yet memories of mistakes and neglect keep interrupting him.
It’s one of those hidden doors that opens occasionally, and you can’t shut it fast enough. The stench of its memory feels shameful, paralyzing and debilitating. Two good roots you’ve been growing seem to have been cut off again: choosing family, forgiving yourself, protecting the hope of a new legacy you’ve been wanting and even trying to rebuild.
Not one father, isn’t haunted or remember the times he failed his children. But that was yesterday…Our heavenly Father, says look up to where your hope comes from. You may want to consider praying with them, washing their feet as a symbol of your commitment to be a better father. Your future is ahead of you…let the past die behind you and forgive yourself.
But the Holy Spirit never stops pouring into your bucket of grace. He invites you to bring what is behind that door to the cross. Repent for those times you chose work, or comfort over your children and ask for forgiveness. Humble yourself…I promise they will remember. Make amends where you can. Forgive yourself. Let His restoration reach the places shame keeps reopening.
Follow the peace of God rather than the regret trying to resurrect your old life. Grace gives you strength to take responsibility without letting yesterday become your identity. Grace moves first, and runs faster than shame. The Prodigals father did not wait for his son to clean up, apologize or earn his way back. Just like Father God moved towards a repentant heart with immediate compassion. “As far as the east is from the west”. Father God doesn’t look at you through the lens of our failures.
Paul writes about forgetting what lies behind and reaching toward what lies ahead. (Philippians 3:13–14). We may still remember our failures, but we can stop allowing them to decide whether we will love faithfully today and again tomorrow.
A father can begin rebuilding what the locusts have stolen. Sunday breakfast. Early morning walks. A Saturday barbecue. A regular handwritten note. These are seeds that can grow as we give the results to our Father God and keep giving our lives away.
Sometimes the first seed is an apology without an excuse. Bring total culpability and humility, listening without defending yourself. Sometimes it is showing up consistently when someone has learned not to expect you. Humility travels so much further than pride or not forgiving ourselves. Trust may grow slowly. Keep tending it. Keep praying and don’t let go!
Isaiah 43:18-19 reminds us, “Do not cling to events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago. Watch for the new thing “I AM” going to do.”… Pray for it…expect it!
Even our definition of success changes as we realize that what we have at home is immeasurably precious. We must nourish those relationships with God’s truth and help our families discover our eternal Father’s love.
Love sometimes carries visible old scars. But love keeps coming, wanting to give, with a heart willing to understand.
What hurt do you need to bring to your Heavenly Father? What seed of love can you plant in your family this week? Spend some time there. Don’t leave until you have the Father’s direction.
Father, heal the places where we missed our dads and the places where we were less than or even failed our children. Help us receive Your forgiveness, take responsibility, and love with patience. Teach us to become fathers—and spiritual fathers—whose presence helps others recognize Yours. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Thank you for spending these few minutes with me today. My prayer is that these devotionals do more than give you something to think about…that they draw you closer to Jesus Christ, deepen your love for Him, and encourage you to live out your faith in the community He has placed around you.
If someone shared this devotional with you and you’d like to join us each week, I’d be honored to have you with us. Subscribe here. http://eepurl.com/i_nlb2
If Fearlessly Courageous has encouraged you and you feel led to help us reach others, I invite you to Partner With Me. https://fearlesslycourageous.com/partner-with-us/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Thank you for allowing me the privilege of sharing this journey with you. You are prayed for, valued, and deeply appreciated.
Thank you for spending these few minutes with me today. My prayer is that these devotionals do more than give you something to think about…that they draw you closer to Jesus Christ, deepen your love for Him, and encourage you to live out your faith in the community He has placed around you.
If someone shared this devotional with you and you’d like to join us each week, I’d be honored to have you with us. Subscribe here. http://eepurl.com/i_nlb2
If Fearlessly Courageous has encouraged you and you feel led to help us reach others, I invite you to Partner With Me. https://fearlesslycourageous.com/partner-with-us/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Thank you for allowing me the privilege of sharing this journey with you. You are prayed for, valued, and deeply appreciated.
CeCe Winans Worthy is your name
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