Oak Hill Church of Christ 6-15-25 Message: "Who's In Charge Of Your Journey?"

Oak Hill Church of Christ Preaching Minister, Randy Sterling, delivers a Father's Day message on the importance of trusting in God's direction for our lives.

In the parent-child relationship, fathers tend to be the lawgivers, the rule-makers, the enforcers, and the final judges. Moms may sometimes be swayed by tears or outbursts. Their desire to implement justice may sometimes be allayed by irrational, emotional arguments. After all, they are the mothers, and they don't want to see their children hurt, especially not by their own doing.

Fathers, however, are not so easily swayed. Their ability to reject emotional pleas and irrational arguments creates a feeling of boundaries and those boundaries create safety. The child understands that the world is a world with results that follow choices. The orderly world the father provides becomes a place of strength, a certitude that can be relied on.

Are you surprised that God is the same when He calls Himself your father? God desires to direct your path, to guide you along the way He has in store for you. He is loving and compassionate, but He is also steadfast. The things He likes, He has liked since eternity. The things He hates, He has hated since sin entered the world.

If your life's journey feels like it's being driven by a neurotic AI; if the only pleas you've ever made before God have been emotionally manipulative threats that sound like 'God, this is mean! if you don't...then I'll....' maybe it's time to consider embracing the Fatherly nature of God and let Him offer the structure, boundaries, and direction for your life that He's been longing to.

This week, try to see His direction as loving guidance, and His law as the strong walls that keep you safe.