“I just wanna go home,” my daughter wailed.
It had started very simply. A missed communication that had led to angry feelings that had led to tears. Now we were sitting in the car trying to sort it out. Because there was no point in driving to our house when it would only mean hiding her feelings behind the door to her room. And I just wasn’t willing to let her go there. Not because I didn’t want to give her a break or let the matter drop, but because I didn’t want her alone with the enemy.
Earlier that morning our pastor had shared that when he was a kid riding his bike, some men in a van pulled up beside him and invited him to get inside and go for a ride. He saw their invitation for the lie it was and he pedaled out of there as fast as he could go. This is often the way our enemy comes to us. He says one thing – come on, it’ll be fun! – but the truth is not in him (John 8:44). His intention is our destruction.
That old enemy drove his van right up next to my daughter just a few minutes after the service ended. She went to blow her nose, sister and dad went to get their coats, I went to get brother. And when she couldn’t find us in the crowd, she got scared. Fear never tells us the truth. But instead of remembering what she knew to be true – that we would not leave her behind – she listened to the lie that she was overlooked and unloved. She got in the van. She let the enemy take her captive.
Our Savior will not allow us to remain lost (Matthew 18:12). He won’t let the enemy take what belongs to Him (John 10:28-29). He won’t let us go because His love for us is deep and unending. I couldn’t just take my daughter home, even though it would have been far easier, because her heart was at stake. How could I just let her drive off with the enemy and do nothing, say nothing?
The home my daughter wanted wasn’t the four walls of our house. It was the safety and security of belonging, of unity with our family. The enemy didn’t want this for her, doesn’t want this for any of us. That’s why he drove a wedge between Eve and God in the Garden in the first place. We’ve been longing for home ever since.
So what can we do? We can fight back against the enemy who wants to capture us and drag us off and destroy us. We can defend our hearts. We can defend the hearts of others. By our actions and our words we build walls of protection that keep the enemy out. And when the van pulls up, we pull out our sword – the truth (Ephesians 6:17).
The truth frees us from the entanglement of the enemy’s lies (John 8:32). It’s the sword we use to defend our hearts against the enemy who wants to steal them from us. It’s the counterattack to his assaults. When we resist him, he flees because he has no real power (James 4:7, John 14:30).
The truth is that my daughter is a sinner and I’m a sinner and yet we do not have to be enemies. There can be peace between us because we’ve both received forgiveness at the Cross. Every relationship needs this Gospel-truth at some time or another. It’s the way out of the darkness that brings us home.
Jesus said to the people, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12