https://odb.org/2026/06/25/the-fathers-open-arms
Hosea 14:1–3 (NIV): 14 Return, Israel, to the LORD your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
2 Take words with you
and return to the LORD.
Say to him:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion.”
Mary Slessor’s compassionate heart led her to open her arms to those in need. The Scottish missionary, born in 1848, served among the people of Okoyong in a distant land. Superstition led people of that region to believe that when twins were born, one was good and one was the child of a demon. This often led to both twins dying—being abandoned to starvation or other dangers. Reflecting the loving heart of God, in time Mary helped save hundreds of the at-risk children, adopting nine as her own!In his inspired words to the rebellious nation of Israel, the prophet Hosea offers a glimpse into God’s caring heart for children. The prophet said of Him, “In you the fatherless find compassion” (14:3). (Tom Felten, Our Daily Bread 25th June 2026)
If we were raised by a father and a mother, notwithstanding they may not be in our eyes perfect parents, remember that it’s a privilege because not everyone are raised by both parents. There are those amongst us who lost their fathers at a young age and grew up only with their mother as a single parent. Worse, there are those whose father abandoned them and they grew up never knowing a father, with their mum acting as both father and mother in the family. Either situation is tough as it is already difficult to raise children as a couple nowadays, what more as a single parent. In today’s world, most families need double incomes just to survive. That is why more couples are contemplating life without children.
The easiest mechanism to cope when there is less money in the household is to cut down on the luxuries. So we survive on the bare minimum. For example, we sleep on mattresses without bed frames and some even sleep on just mats if we live in elevated wooden houses.
During ancient times, it was even tougher to grow up without a father as mothers do not usually work and earn any income. That is why God made it a law for the Israelites to allow gleaning to enable widows and the fatherless a means to gather food for themselves so that no one in Israel goes hungry. Even if there is nothing else to go with it, there is at least bread on the table (or in the context of us in South East Asia, we could at least have a plate of plain rice mixed with soy sauce).
Besides the Mosaic law for the landed farmers to leave out the edges of their fields for the widows, orphans and foreigner to glean, God has compassion for the fatherless as seen in Scripture like today’s Hosea 14:3 – “Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.”
If we have ever been in a situation of the fatherless for whatever reason in the past or never even had a parent raise us at all, God is the person who has compassion for you. Like the children who were abandoned due to wrong beliefs in twins in Okoyong or children left behind due to parents executed under Chinese criminal laws in China or whose parents were killed by some road accident, a natural disaster or serious illnesses – the LORD God will be your father (and even your mother). He is your tower of strength, your stronghold! Cling on to Him, He will see you through life! Amen!
Ronnie's Thoughts 