Hold my mop- please pass the oil….

I remember being a Christian in junior high. There were personal stuggles we all faced, of course, but collectively, I remember the struggles being about things like trying not to gossip, refraining from drinking, and figuring out when we’d have our first kiss.

As I sit here writing this, my 7th grade son is pleading with the Lord, asking Him to spare the life of his close friend who is in the hospital. He is doing this for the second time in the past 8 months, for two separate friends in two different scenarios, but both from the same small community of precious Jesus-lovers. Between these two unimaginable tragedies, he spent 5 days in the hospital fighting pneumonia, too weak to even walk for several days.

In that same span, we lost Charlie Kirk and several prominent pillars of the faith. We’ve seen mass shootings, churches lit on fire, and Christians around the world being martyred for their faith. We’ve learned that chatGPT coached a young, bright 16 year old into taking his own life. We’ve seen our schools and culture teach our children that God sometimes puts people in the wrong bodies (oops!), so kids are permanently stunting & damaging their healthy bodies, sometimes to the point of cutting off healthy body parts.

Evil is having a moment. Though we have the same evil spirits now that we’ve always had, it feels like evil has leveled up and our kids are carrying burdens that my generation never had to carry. A dear friend recently said “Satan knows he’s about to be kicked out of the house, and he’s trashing the place.” It sure feels that way to me.

At the same time- I have watched as the Lord has taken every evil deed that the enemy has thrown at goodness, and given us beauty for ashes. It’s said that the Lord is so good at bringing beauty out of tragedy, people often think He is the author of it. I totally agree. God is not the author of tragedy, but He will use it to reach the deepest parts of us, and there is so much evidence that God is pouring out his Spirit now, drawing us all closer to Himself.

A friend sent me this picture of my son Jett during worship this week. I am watching a group of kids navigate through tremendous loss and tragedy with unfathomable faith and resolve. Every punch the enemy lands pushes them further into the arms of Jesus. Their worship is real and full of conviction. Their Bibles are worn and marked in a way that would have you believe they belong to people three times their age. This is the generation that had years of their childhood stolen from them due to Covid and it’s lockdown measures. They watched people riot and burn down their own cities for an entire year. They have felt the rise of darkness in the world firsthand and are hungry for the truth and light that only Jesus can bring.

I have personally felt a pull to better manage my home in light of the darkness outside of it. I often can’t control the evil outside of our home, but I can create a safe an comfortable place for my family to land when they get home. At first, this felt like working harder on making it clean and inviting. (Less craft explosions, more table space to eat dinner, etc…) As the waves of tragedy have hit, one after another, my view of this role has shifted. God has shown me more recently that my role as the keeper of my home is much deeper and much more important than soft blankets and seasonal throw pillows.

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”

— 2 Corinthians 10:3–4

I now see my role as a spiritual defender of the space that is my home and the people who live inside it. When God tells Christians what we are to wear, it is neither loungewear that we can sit back and relax in, or black-tie partywear for a good time. Instead He tells us to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). When we become a believer, we are signing up to be a soldier in God’s army and we are enlisted to fight in the spiritual war around us.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world…”

— Ephesians 6:12

Ladies- it’s time for us to rise to the occasion. There is a war that rages around us whether we acknowledge it or not, and the enemy has targeted our families and our children. It’s time for us to put on our armor and go to battle. Rise up sweet sisters, and take your place as the watchman on the walls of your home. I am still learning what this looks like, but so far, it looks like this for me:

1. Filling the air with worship music. In the morning, before I wake anyone else up, I turn it on. When things are tense in the home, this can totally shift the atmosphere. We are inviting the Holy Spirit into our space and choosing a heart posture of worship. Hebrews 13: 15 says: “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”
   
   
2. Praying over every room in our home. When Jesus left for Heaven, he left us with the Holy Spirit and the authority to use His name when facing unclean spirits. There are many examples of disciples casting out unclean spirits. God has given us the authority to do this and I want every unclean spirit out of my home, so in each room I command them to leave in the name of Jesus. You can anoint entry ways with oil and declare that no evil thing is allowed entry.
   
   I was listening to a podcaster and she was sharing that her husband had been away for work for a few days, and when he returned, he asked if her mother had been there while he was gone. He said that he could sense the critical spirit she often carries with her in their home, even though physically, the mother had left days prior. We don’t know what people bring with them when they enter our home, so a regular practice of demanding any unclean spirits leave in Jesus’ name is something I’m adopting.
   
   
3. Praying and pleading the blood of Jesus over each family member. When they sleep, I will pray specific prayers of protection over each person. I’ll anoint them with oil and pray against any plans or assignments that the enemy may have to harm them and pray that the blood of Jesus covers them. I remind Satan that they belong to Jesus, are covered by His blood, and that he has no power or authority to harm them. I declare Isaiah 54:17 over them: “No weapon that is formed against you will succeed; And you will condemn every tongue that accuses you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their vindication is from Me, declares the Lord.” I pray over their minds and bodies and ask the Holy Spirit to show me anything else I should pray for concerning them. I declare biblical truths over them and will do so until I see the Lord bring my prayers and declarations into fruition.
   
   
4. Putting Scripture up on the walls of our home. This is currently in the works, but I want God’s words always present in our home. I want scripture hanging around our house to declare our home holy space for Him and to remind us who see it that He is always with us.
   
   
5. A commitment to teaching our son the Bible. I don’t know what lies ahead, but I can sense in my spirit that it will continue to be hard. I know that he won’t recognize the lies the world will throw at him if he isn’t first grounded in the truth. I have a unique window of time now, when I have some control over his schedule and so we are making time to read the Bible together. I care more about this than school or sports. His eternity rests on his relationship with Jesus, so I will not take it lightly or leave it to happenstance. I want to know that whatever life throws at him next, he will be equipped with a knowledge of the Word of God so that he can stand on truth and access the authority that he has in Jesus as a Christian.
   
   Every part of me wants to protect him and shield him from the darkness of the world, but I can’t do that. All I can do is point him to Jesus and prepare him for battle. The future is uncertain, but God has given us our children, and it’s no accident who he chose to be here during these times. God created them for such a time as this and he has entrusted us to raise them. There is no higher calling.

The Lord has been patient with me as He’s called me into battle for my family. I feel extremely unequipped, but God is so good. He is with us in this fight and we know how this war ends… with Jesus on the throne and Satan in a lake of fire.

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away”. 

– Revelation 21:4.

Oh how we long for that day. Come quickly, Jesus! But may we be valiant soldiers in your army, protecting our most precious gifts until you come again….