Have you ever gone through a day and become so exhausted that all you
wanted to do was flop down on the sofa and zone out in front of the TV?
Yesterday was such a day for me. I went thru a busy and stressful day and
just needed some time to relax and turn off my brain for the rest of the
night.

I sat down and flipped the TV to a popular Tuesday night show. However,
the last thing that happened from watching the show was that my mind
stopped working. It began working overtime as I was drawn into the story
line.

One of the characters, a young man in his early twenty’s, was just days
away from the birth of his first child. His wife was on bed rest, so he
took her job at a local diner. While there, he was constantly asking
questions and seeking advice from the owner of the diner, a man who
really didn’t want this young man bothering him.

As the show progressed, the young man revealed that when he was ten years
old, his father had left him, and since he left no forwarding address, he
figured he didn’t want to be found. Now, facing the birth of twin sons,
he found himself terrified at the thought of being a father. He had no
where to turn for advice and support, and he wanted to be a better father
to his kids than his dad had been to him.

As I watched, I felt like my heart break into a thousand pieces. I knew
the pain that this young man felt. I, too, have had a father who has left
me fearful and unprepared for life as a man. I remembered the pain of my
father telling me that I could never succeed as a writer and would never
make a dime. I remember the sense of fear and hopelessness as I licked my
wounds from the last round of verbal and emotional beatings from my
father. I recognized the feelings of hopelessness and pain that this
young man felt, wondering if I was doomed to repeat the same mistakes of
my father.

Like the young man, I had reached out many times to other men in hope of
support, advice, encouragement and love. Like him, I had been denied help
by men who just didn’t want to be bothered. A few men gave me some help
along the way, but because of the distance between us, they couldn’t give
me the help that I needed. My desire for a man to help me through these
tough issues was for the most part ignored. I had no one to reach out and
help me and tell me everything would be okay. Thankfully, God did
provided me with a godly mother to help me through this time. However,
there were some times that it would have been less uncomfortable talking
about certain things with a man.
As the show reached its conclusion, I wanted to just sit there and cry
for the young man. I know it was only a TV show, but I longed to reach
out, take him in my arms, and comfort him. Then I wanted to help him work
through the grief and pain he was facing and let him know he wasn’t
doomed to repeat his dad’s failure. I wanted to let him no that
everything would be alright and that I would help him through his worries
and fears. I never want another man to have to face the hurts and pain of
both a father’s rejection and the rejection of other Christian men who
turned away from me in my hour of need.

It was at this moment that I felt God speak to my heart. He said, "This
is only a tenth of hurt and pain I feel every moment as I look at the
faces of My men who feel alone and abandoned by their fathers. I long to
be their father, and I long for My children to rise up and be a father to
these men."

That’s when it hit me. We as men, need to do this job. We are children of
a loving Heavenly Father. We need to share this same love with the
younger men who have never felt a father’s love.

The apostle Paul was such a man. On his first missionary journey, he met
a young man named Timothy. Timothy was a man called by God and full of
promise. While he was supported by a strong mother and grandmother, he
needed the influence of a Godly man in his life. Paul decided to be that
man. As a result, Timothy became a godly man in his own right, and in
time became a strong leader in the early church.

What about you? Is there a young man you could be helping? Church youth
groups are full of young men who are products of divorce or abandonment.
Can you reach out to them and become a godly influence in their lives?
Could you be the man they seek out when they have questions or fears
about their future? Could you be a source of encouragement to them in
their time of need?

Ask God to give you his heart for the hurting men around you. Ask Him to
open doors for you to show His love to another young man. Ask Him to use
you to show the love of God to another hurting man. When He places
someone in your path, ask Him for the right words and actions to help
that young man. Then be obedient to what the Holy Spirit leads you to do.

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