Pancakes and Faithfulness

The other morning, my daughter Jing Lei broke her gaze from watching Hannah Montana to thank me for breakfast, “Daddy, thank you for the pancakes you made for me this morning!”

“You’re welcome, Jing. They were the last two. We are out of pancakes,” I replied (Don’t be too impressed… they were the premade microwaveable ones).

Then, unexpectedly, she got up from her normal TV viewing position, which is about two feet from the tube, and walked over to me, vegging on the couch, and said, “Daddy, I love you. I hope I never run out of you!”

Oh, man! What a way to start a day! Dad was on cloud 9 after that! “Yes, Jing Lei. We can buy you a new car today… why wait 10 more years when you turn 16? Anything else you want?”

I marvel sometimes at how faithful my kids can be to me. I mean, no matter how much trouble they can get into at home, with timeouts, talks about apologizing, forgiving, and sometimes a little additional timeout to let things “soak in”, all three of our kids always want Mommy and Daddy and our love and approval when all is said and done. I pray it is always that way.

Now don’t get me wrong… I don’t think our kids are little hellions (I hope no one else thinks so!). But they can get a little out of hand from time to time and are by nature selfish and sometimes self-centered. Hmm….

Ever wonder why God is so faithful to us? It’s not like He needs to be or even needs us at all. Why would the God who created the whole universe, in all its complexity and beauty, need or want me for anything, much less be continuously, consistently, and completely faithful to me… especially in light that I am so unfaithful to Him on pretty much a regular basis in some area to some degree or the other? Areas I’ve been unfaithful to God, at certain points in my life, just to name only a few: tithing, service, loving the unlovely, compassion, devotion, forgiveness, mercy, grace, etc., etc.… Holy Cow! By man’s standards, I’m somewhat of a spiritual mess in some area of my life at most times if not all the time!

I sit back and compare my faithfulness (or lack thereof) to God’s faithfulness. It’s really no comparison, but rather a stark contrast. Where do I start? God always forgives me even though I can hold a grudge. God always provides financially even though my tithe may not be quiet what it should be. God’s love for me is totally unconditional even though I can sometimes put conditions on my love for others. God is always talking to me even though I may not always take the time to talk with him or even listen. God is so patient with me. I am so impatient. The list seems endless.

So, why is God so faithful to me? It certainly isn’t because I deserve it. Thank God for that! And I in no way have earned it… I would fall so short. God is faithful to me because He loves me. Plane and simple. And why does God love me? He chooses to. Just like a loving dad adores his own kids, so does God the Father adore us. My simple mind can’t fully understand God’s unflinching faithfulness to me and it doesn’t have to… the simple truth is that God is faithful to those he loves. And by the way, we never have to worry about “running out” of our Heavenly Dad!