I am a stay at home father. As far as possible, I have stayed home with my 2 children. I was home for Micah’s first four years and for Matea’s first 3. As a result, I am used to having my kids around me for the most part. We spend idle time together, play time together, work time together. They accompany me to the office. They have come with me to workers meetings. They have had to spend time in my office while I did Bible studies with young people. We spend a lot of time together. It’s to the point where it takes me a few minutes to acclimate to situations where my children aren’t present.
As I write this I’m on a plane headed to Atlanta, where I will board another plane to Lagos, Nigeria. I will be there for 2 weeks, and my wife will be with me for most of that time. This morning as I dropped my kids off at school (Micah), and preschool (Matea), I got that familiar pang in my heart and throat as I said goodbye. I had prepared them for this day; that mom and I would be gone for a little while, but we would be back. In worship, my son said, “Daddy, I’m going to miss you”, and I responded, “I’m going to miss you too, son.”
You see God was a stay at home Father. He co-mingled with other persons of the Trinity for eternity, then He stepped out into time to create this world that we inhabit. Perfect man became imperfect. Sin had entered in, and now this world would need a Savior.
Can you imagine that conversation in the Heavenly of heavenly’s? God the Father sending his Only Begotten to this world, to be separated for a little while, because Jesus would return to work on preparing places for us. How the Father had to have a pain in his heart so great, and the Son would say, “Daddy, I’m going to miss you” and His response, “I’m going to miss you too, Son.”
The Bible talks about God being familiar with all of the issues of this life. There is no more familiar emotion or feeling than loss. He understands what we feel when we lose a loved one, or if we have to move away from our family, or when we have to break up a relationship. He knows that feeling all too well. He sent His only Begotten so that we could be made whole again. So that we won’t have to live with that pain always, but that feeling would push us, compel us, drive us to be prepared for Jesus’ return. You see He’s prepared you for this day, for this moment, and He expects that you would face it like He knows you can. He suffered separation anxiety to make sure that we would never have to be separated again.
