A few years ago, U2 made a live concert film called U2 3D. The band allowed IMAX cameras onstage to capture their performance in incredible detail. They performed a new song called “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own,” and before he started to sing, Bono explained that he’d written it for his father. The song told a story about a father and son who had wasted most of their lives arguing only to realize that in the end, they needed one another.

As the show ended, I started thinking about the chorus, and I was grateful that with our heavenly Father, we never have to “make it on our own.” Because of Christ’s great atoning sacrifice, God has adopted us into his family. Through the Son he has become our heavenly Father. And because we were reconciled through our Lord, we know that we’ll never have to face the ups and downs that life throws us on our own. Listen to the confidence the prophet Isaiah had in God’s faithfulness: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10, ESV).

Paul reiterates God’s faithfulness to us in his letter to the Romans: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, ESV).

While the song might speak of a tumultuous father/son relationship, Bono later sings a line admitting that his love of singing was a gift from his father. Like Bono, our heavenly Father has given us a gift – the gift of right relationship with him through our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope this Father’s Day we’ll remember that no matter what comes our way, with God on our side, we’ll never have to go it alone.

I’m Joseph Tkach, Speaking of LIFE.