There’s a lot of talk recently about young ladies being followed by strangers with the intention of abducting them.  Everyday you see a new missing person alert.  It is very frightening to think about someone being taken hostage.

When I was 18 years old, Doug and I lived in Sierra Vista, Az.  It was a city right outside the army post where he was stationed.  Being newly weds and living on military pay we didn’t have a lot.  We shared a car, but I was able to find a job close to our apartment so I walked to work and Doug usually took the car.  To get to work I walked out of our apartment complex then walked along a busy street past a subdivision, open field and along the side of the store where I worked.  One day as I was walking to work and was about half past the field a car stopped beside me and 5 big men started piling out.  Being an army wife and having my husband lecture me over and over again about being aware of my surroundings I knew this was not a safe situation.  There was no one else in the vicinity, we lived about 15 miles from the Mexico border, I had no means to call for help (cell phones didn’t exist yet), and no one would even know I was missing for hours.

My first instinct was to pray to God to save me.  The men were walking around the front of the car which was the direction I was heading.  So while I was praying for God’s help I turned around and took off running back toward the sub-division hoping to find help.  I am not exactly sure what scared the men but suddenly they jumped back into the car and sped off.  I am still believing today God stepped in and intervened.  I may not know what scared them but I sure know who.  There was no possible way I could have made it back to the nearest house which was about 100 yards away, and no way to get around them to get help from my co-workers.  God saved me with his divine protection.  I was very blessed by the outcome of this frightening event.  Needless to say we started looking for a second car that evening and I never walked to work again!

So many times we let our spiritual lives be taken hostage.  We let our defenses down and aren’t aware of our surroundings.  We don’t notice sin creeping in our lives just as we may miss a strange car pulling up to the curb.  The bible tells in 1 Peter 5:8 to be sober and vigilant because Satan is like a roaring lion seeking to devour us. When we do realize we are not in a safe place spiritually we tend to forget to ask God for help.  Maybe we are too independent, embarrassed or think God won’t or can’t help so we don’t bother to pray and ask the God of the Universe to give us his divine intervention and protection.  In Hebrews 4:16 the bible tells us to come boldly to the throne so we can get mercy and grace to help in our time of need. And lastly, we forget to run.  We get comfortable and don’t see that we need to get away from the danger.  It’s important to understand that sin will always take you further than you want to go and keep you longer than you want to stay.  James 4:7 tells us to resist the Devil and he will flee. So run.

We put our spiritual health at risk by not being aware of our surroundings, not praying, and not running away.  God tells us in his word we are in a spiritual war.  He guides us in Ephesians 6 to put on His armor so we can stand against the wiles of the devil.  So as we are being more aware of the danger of abduction from all the recent warnings, let’s also protect ourselves from being taken hostage spiritually.