A Father's Love

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee . . ." - Jeremiah 1:5

One of my favorite movies as a kid was Disney's "A Goofy Movie".  It follows Goofy and Max on a wild adventure as Goofy tries to establish a closer relationship with his teenage son.  Max on the other hand is trying to get away from his father.  Goofy as we know is . . . well . . . goofy.  But he makes us laugh as he stumbles across the screen.  This drives Max crazy, because Goofy is just an embarrassment to him.  Goofy wants to have a one-on-one relationship with his son, and tries relentlessly to get it.  Max on the other hand is so bent on pushing him away because, let's face it, he's ruining his life.


Well, life wasn't very good for these two.  Goofy loved his son very much and wanted what was best for him.  It hurt him when Max kept pushing him away or getting into trouble.  Max must have thought Goofy was out to make him miserable.  Can you blame Goofy for wanting to be apart of his son's life?  Luckily, there is a happy ending to the story Max finally stops fighting Goofy and finds out how much he really cared about him.  They even became best friends and wanted to do things with each other.

We have a father in heaven.  He loves us very much because we are his children.  He wants what is best for us.  At times it feels like he is not listening or is just there to annoy us.  But that is not true.  He puts us in places where we will learn and grow the most. (D&C 95:1.)  At times he will send others to act in his stead so that he are comforted.  He understands what we are going through and will give us comfort when it's needed.  We may not recognize it but when we open our hearts to him, trusting him that all will be well with us, we will see his hand in our lives.


(John 17:23)

 God also wants us to have all that he has, but it hurts him when we turn away his love.  God will never leave us.  When we feel abandon by him it's only because we left him.  God wants to be apart of our life because he created us.  God made it possible for us to return to him through Jesus Christ (John 3:16).  Christ atoned for our sins so that we can live in the presence of God.  Through Christ's teachings we are able to understand who God is and his plan for us (John 14:7, 9).  As we come to know God, we begin to see his love around us shine.