A major part of my day these days is trying to get my daughter to smile at me. I’ll do almost anything to get one from her. Silly faces, silly sounds, silly daddy! I don’t care how silly I look, I just want one of her smiles to light up my entire world. That’s how powerful they are to me. They reach a spot within my heart I don’t think anything else does.
A smile from my daughter really changes my life, each time; and in those short moments I don’t think it’s possible for me to be any happier. And when I smile at her, how does it affect her? Well, she finds if kind of entertaining – sometimes. No big deal, just silly daddy.
It got me thinking about my heavenly Dad, and how many times in a day is he trying to get a smile out of me? Does my smile also light up God’s whole existence, even if it’s just for that small moment? I think it does, and that is a really incredible thing. And when my heavenly Dad smiles at me, how does that affect me? Well, I find it kind of entertaining – sometimes. No big deal, just silly Daddy.
Of course we can’t see God literally smiling at us, but he is always smiling at us in the hope it will create a smile in return. Every time you see a sunset, or a flower, or the ocean. Every time we see a part of his creation, made for you, made for your pleasure, it’s God’s way of smiling at us. Sure, he knows we’ll mostly just find it interesting, a little entertaining, but if it causes us to smile, that’s enough for him. That’s when we light up his whole world.
Now, to be honest, I don’t have a great success rate with getting a smile out of my daughter. Mostly she’s busy with her squeaky giraffe toy, or simply isn’t in the mood to smile for whatever reason she might have. But, as her father, that’s also fine. I’m not disappointed. Never. I love her so much I just keep on trying, because it’s just so much fun being around her and I never know when that beautiful smile is going to shine my way. When it does, my heart sings.
I think God acts the same way with us, his kids. We often miss all of his smiles throughout the day, maybe we’re distracted by our own toys, or we have things on our mind that distract us, or a million other reasons. The thing is, I don’t think this disappoints God. I think he just keeps on smiling at us, keeps hanging around, keeps being our silly Daddy, in the hope he’s draw a smile out of us that touches a part of his heart that nothing else can.
Your heavenly Father is smiling at you. Smile back, and you’ll bless his heart more than you can possibly imagine
— Mick Mooney (@mick_mooney) July 23, 2012
Dads love seeing their kids smile at them. Bless God’s heart, let him draw a few smiles out of you today. He’s even prepared to be a silly Daddy if that’s what it takes!
