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Little Judy was full to the brim with questions for her daddy. She was watching the city’s annual July 4th parade for the very first time, and the marching bands, the prancing horses, the enormous floats and the gaily decorated convertibles carrying the town dignitaries were absolutely fascinating.
She wanted to know everything. Not content to just watch the colorful and noisy displays that passed endlessly before her seat on the sidewalk, she wanted to know, “Where are the clowns? Who are those people waving from the back seat of those cars? Where’s the float dwivers, I can’t see them? And how can they see to dwive? And Daddy, who owns all those horses? Hey, Daddy, what’s coming after this big float, I can’t see behind it. Daddy, I’m getting awfully tired, is the pawade about over? Daddy, I’m getting kinda hungwy, can we go now and get sumpin’ to eat?”
Judy was about to drive her daddy to distraction, He was trying to watch the parade, and at the same time attempting to answer her running list of questions of “whys, whens, and hows.” Plus keeping a close watch on eight-year-old Wade, who had a tendency to squirm away.
So Daddy finally started to run low on tolerance, energy and enthusiasm. His patient and gentle answers were taking on a definite negative slope, leaning more to “No, Judy, I don’t know and don’t really care how the float drivers see where they’re going. Those men riding in the cars? Don’t know who they are, and also don’t care.”
Huge sigh, “The horses, Judy? Oh, I’m sure they were flown in here from Mars just for this parade. No, I don’t have any idea what is coming behind that big ugly float. I guess you’ll find out in a little bit. Oh, honey, I know you’re tired and hungry, me too. But I don’t have a clue how long this will last. Just please, be a little more patient.” And then under his breath, “And less talkative, you are driving me bananas.”
This ‘family day enjoyment’ went on for another twenty minutes, before the parade finally wound down to the end. Daddy, Wade and a cranky and tired little Judy trudged wearily to their car parked blocks away, and drove home.
Sometimes the parade goes on endlessly and the average daddy on the sidewalk has no clue when it will end. Or what is coming next after the band. After the horses. After the cars, and the ugly floats. And the average little Judys of this world have unanswerable questions. Leaving Dad to wish he knew more than he knew.
Folks, Dads can’t see parades from beginning to the end all at the same time. And sometimes they don’t have real answers to hard questions.
But the Almighty Father up in heaven does. He sees our lives from beginning to the end, all at once. He was the one who created the very beginning of your parade here on earth, and He knows the exact millisecond when your parade will end.
Trust Him.