“These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 (NKJV)

All my life, I wanted an earthly father. As an 8-year-old, I met a man who I believed was my biological father. As I stood there with three of my brothers, this drunken man didn’t recognize me, but proceeded to ask me for money. That encounter put me on a course to finding my true father because my heart told me this man was not.

My tribulation intensified as I watched my friends interact with their fathers. After joining a church softball league, the coach became my surrogate dad. He talked to all of us after each practice about the importance of completing school, staying out of trouble, listening to our parents and, most of all, establishing a relationship with our Father in heaven. I looked up to him and it comforted me to see a real man of God as a husband and father.

After joining the Reserve Officer Training Corps in college, another man entered my life and continued to be that example of a godly man. However, my heart still longed to know my real father. On Aug. 7, 2017, that burning desire led me to ask my mother the question.

She said, “Your father’s name is ... He was a good man.”

The pain, anger and betrayal exploded all at once, blasting open the secrets of my past. Then, a peace came over me that only God, through Jesus Christ, could provide. I nervously reached out to my earthly father’s family and they accepted me with open arms. The work of Christ Jesus brought me through the tribulation and made me a grown man who has found peace and good cheer through him.

Steve Singleton is the logistics coordinator for the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid in Dallas.