A Wake Up Call
As a minister of God’s Word, an author and a business man it
is easy for me to find myself striving toward the next goal and caught up in
the lures of life. Even as a minister, pushing to accomplish the vision without
proper consideration being given to priorities and God’s ultimate will can
easily lead to failure in ways that you may not be aware of.
When I wrote The Invisible Father almost six years ago, the
vision was clear and the message was lucid; Men, it’s time to step up.” What
wasn’t clear to me at the time is that even in pursuing a great cause like
bringing men back into the functionality of their Divine design as husbands,
fathers, community leaders, coverings, providers and more can lead to
misdirecting energy and effort. In other words, it is extremely easy to get
caught up in the cause and miss your own opportunities to grow in the same
area.
I was having a conversation with my youngest daughter this
past weekend. For the most part, the conversation went as usual. I spend a lot
of time with my daughters confirming their identity and self-worth. This was
another one of those times. Somewhere in the conversation between me telling
her how beautiful, intelligent, and exceptionally creative she is, a light came
on in my head. Rick, your ministry, your message, your anointed calling is
extremely important, but your role as a father will leave a much greater and
lasting legacy. The question that followed immediately after this epiphany was,
“Have I done anything as a father that has made such an indelible mark that it
has solidified my legacy as a father and the answer, unfortunately, was no. Had
I been there in some way? For the most part. Had I spent time confirming and
affirming my children? Yes. Had I told them I loved them? Every chance I got?
Yes. Had I given all that I had as a father, had I been consistent as I should,
did I reflect God the Father’s love in my love toward them? Not as I should. 
I praise God for this revelation because it gave me a new
focus. It rekindled a new passion in me. Some would think I would be saddened
or discouraged by my less than stellar assessment of my status as a father. On
the contrary, I accept the challenge and appreciate the opportunity to rise
above the mediocre social paradigms that set the standard for fatherhood in
this culture. Am I proud of where I am? No. However, I see how God will use the
father that I am becoming to inspire others to follow suit. I am praying that
this transparent assessment will motivate other men to do the same. Instead of
patting ourselves on the back for the things we are doing right, we should take
the time out to discover where we could improve.  |
| Dr. Rick Wallace Ph.D. |
Please don’t take this as a disregard of all that some
fathers are doing in honoring their filial responsibilities. I solute every man
that has remained committed to his paternal responsibilities. I wish more
fathers would assume more active roles in the lives of their progeny. I just
don’t want us as a whole to settle for the secular standards of fatherhood. I
don’t want us to become conceited in our accomplishments and lose sight of the
need to continue to rise. There is kingdom work to be done out there and begins
with Godly men assuming their God-ordained roles.
Let today be the day that you recommit. Let today be the day
that you determine within your being that you will rise. Let today be the day
that you establish a covenant with God and your children. Commit to be
accessible. Commit to be present (whenever possible, I know that there are
fathers that are not in the same City with their children. This means that you
have to exert more effort into finding ways to being impactful in your
absence.) I have one final question: When you join me? ~ Dr. Rick Wallace
Dr. Wallace is the author of The Invisible Father; Reversing the Curse of a Fatherless Generation.
No comments:
Post a Comment