Taking Them Back – A Matter of Urgency

I have diligently been trying to write a post about “grace” for several weeks. I end up closing the document, deleting it and starting again. Yesterday, after finishing a women’s Bible study, I discovered the reason I’m having difficulty writing at all, especially on the subject of “grace.” I am compelled to disclose what’s on my heart regarding another topic before I can share concerning grace. I have to expose what inhibits us from bestowing grace. That, my friends, is spiritual warfare.

Our women’s class just finished a study based on the movie, “The War Room.” If you have not seen it and had the opportunity to read through this study, I recommend it. Be ready and willing to let God work in your heart, and perhaps even change it, by the time you finish the study.

In the years since we married, we’ve experienced many "unexplainable" and heartbreaking moments that left my husband and me stunned and at a loss. I now realize that we are under attack, engaged in tactical and premeditated spiritual warfare. Satan parks his feet on the ottoman and is quite at home doing what he does best … attempting to intentionally destroy what God designed.

[I know what you are thinking, “Don’t go there. I don’t want to talk about satan or admit he has any power over me or my family.” From experience, I can tell you that he is real, he is present and he is attacking - your family and mine.]

When we are obedient to God, spiritual warfare becomes more intense. I can say with complete certainty, satan has thrown everything, “but the kitchen sink,” at our marriage. He uses our children, family members, acquaintances, friends and neighbors, finances, careers, health, church and everything in between. We are constantly entrenched in battle and there are times when it feels as if he is winning. For him, the destruction of respect, love, forgiveness and grace is an “art.”

Now, I see it with clarity of mind and heart. During the first few years of our “blended family,” I did not recognize the shrewd strategies or comprehend the purposeful scheming and resourcefulness he employed to win at all costs. It was like hand to hand combat … “shock and awe.” I was so mentally discouraged and physically worn out from the battle that I didn’t have the energy to fight back … I stopped praying. There were days I could hardly get out of bed and after long days at work, I did not want to go home. The father of lies was in our midst, making a mess, and yet all I could see were my own failures as a step mom and wife. He used my own husband and children to keep me off balance … he lied and I believed those lies. Satan, and others in our circle of influence, reveled in my “perceived failures.” I was providing him with the ideal weapons to allow misery in our home - insecurity, jealousy, bitterness and eventually, worst of all, ambivalence.

{Spoiler Alert – “The War Room”}

In “The War Room,” the main character came to a startling realization that there cannot be two people sitting on the throne of her heart (she and God). There was room for only one on the throne of her heart - God. He gave her the conviction and strength to renounce satan. She declared she was taking everything back from “the destroyer.” She yelled at him and informed him in no uncertain terms that he could not have her husband, her child, her home … she was throwing him out and taking her family back.

I am there my fellow steps … I am finished! I know God created our family on purpose and that He has a plan for us. I know that he created this role for me and no one else. I will no longer allow satan to float me the lie that I am a failure. He will never steal my joy.

I am employing the ultimate weapon to take back my family – my God. I am declaring it verbally and in writing! Satan’s reign in our home is over. I know how his story ends. He only has power in my home if I give him the weapons. Going forward, I am praying fervently for God’s protection for my family and forcefully declaring that satan remove himself from our home. He has worn out his welcome. He has no place.

The reality is that step families are born out of brokenness. It’s the “perfect storm” for satan. He will use the raw emotions and waves of heartache in an attempt to destroy another family. I am praying protection for you, fellow step moms, who are battling “in the trenches” for your families. There will still be days when it feels like he is winning … days when insecurity and bitterness creep back in and steal our joy. I urge you to keep praying secure in the knowledge that the One who really is in control, God who sits on the throne, has conquered the prince of darkness, leaving him powerless over our marriages, families and homes. Darkness can’t exist in the light and light drives out the darkness. 1 John 4:4 says, “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

Drive out the darkness. Take back your homes. Greater is He …

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you, in your midst, wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9