There’s a heart-warming story I once read about an incident that occurred following a tragic earthquake years ago. It’s about a father who kept his word to his son.

In 1989, an earthquake shook Armenia killing more than 30,000 people in less than four minutes. Amidst the resulting chaos, a father rushed to his son’s school, one of the buildings destroyed during the quake.

Looking at the demolished school and the hopeless situation, tears filled his eyes.  Then the father remembered a promise he’d made to his son, “No matter what, I’ll always be there for you.”

The father started frantically digging through the rubble. Other heart-broken parents arriving at the scene told him there was nothing he could do because the children could not have survived in the collapsed building.

Even a policeman and firefighter told him he should leave, but the father continued to dig stone by stone when no one else would help.  He had to know for himself whether his son was dead or alive.

This man dug for eight hours, then 12, then 24 and then 36, constantly calling his son’s name. After digging 38-hours, he removed a large piece of the crumbled building and screamed, “Armand!

Immediately, he heard his son’s voice, “Dad? It’s me, Dad!” Then the boy said, “I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you’d save me. And when you saved me, they’d be saved.

“You had promised, ‘No matter what, I’ll always be there for you!’ And here you are, Dad.  You kept your promise.”

This father kept His word to his young son; however, many times promises have been made, only to be broken. William Barclay once said, “We can never afford to forget that we teach our children to call God ‘Father,’ and the only conception of fatherhood that they can have is the conception we give them. Human fatherhood should be molded and modeled on the pattern of the fatherhood of God.”

Fathers, can your children see God in you?  A father who keeps his promises reflects the divine image of our Heavenly Father who said, “I will never leave you; nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

Since God has promised us in His Word to be with us always, we are never alone no matter what’s going on around us.  He is able to do more for us than we can imagine (Ephesians 3:20) because He is a perfect Father (Matthew 5:48).  He is the Father who comforts us in all our troubles (2 Corinthians 1:3 – 4).

“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty (2 Corinthians 6:17-18).  God’s love is unconditional and everlasting. He is a Father who keeps His Word.

-Jan White