Our home is in the middle of the city, however we have a city park located at the back of our property. The park isn’t what you would imagine. It’s basically a large green space, and a wooded area. We also have a pond in our back yard. The pond and the park are two of the features that sold this house for me. We are in the middle of the city, however it doesn’t feel like it when you stand in our backyard. It’s our own personal oasis.

For the past several nights, Dan and I have been hearing strange noises after we went to bed. At first we thought it was an animal outside our window. Dan looked out the window several times, but never saw anything. However, on Friday night, it became very evident that there was something under our house.

Our home has always been my favorite place to be. It’s so peaceful and safe. However, the idea that something had gotten under our house, and had been there for several days without me really noticing, terrified me. I immediately felt like I was no longer safe. Honestly, I was certain that whatever was under our house, was surely going to come through my floor at any minute and eat me alive. Dan assured me that the animal under our house was probably a raccoon and it couldn’t get into our home. It didn’t matter, no amount of assurance could calm me. I stayed awake until very late completely terrified that I was surely going to experience an early death due to a vicious raccoon attack.

Now, before you stop reading; I have not completely lost my mind. I am an educated woman and I understand that, logically, a raccoon couldn’t rip through the floor and viciously attack me. However, fear can tend to be highly illogical. At 11:30 at night on Friday, the raccoon living under my house was probably the size of a bear and one wrong move would surely cause us all to die.

So, obviously, my only choice was to stay awake. If I stayed awake I would have some warning of the vicious attack and could protect myself (please don’t ask how I was planning on protecting myself, I hadn’t really thought through the details). Finally, several hours after Dan had went to bed, I realized that I was not going to be able to stay awake all night. Lack of sleep finally overtook my irrational fear, and I slept restlessly.

Saturday morning, I woke up and my house felt safer in the light. I realized that many of the fears I had the previous night were silly. Funny how light changes things right? That morning, as we waited for the nuisance control agent to come and look under our house, I got to thinking about my spiritual house. When was the last time I checked to see if any intruders were sneaking in?

1 Peter 5:8 reminds us that we should be watchful, as our enemy prowls constantly looking for someone to devour. The enemy is always looking for weak places in our life. Places we have become complacent in. Situations that we deem safe. Places we don’t think are “that bad”. John 10:10 says the enemy is like a thief who comes only to steal, kill and destroy. A thief is crafty. They don’t walk in the front door when you are sitting at your kitchen table, they sneak in after you go to bed or while you’re gone and you aren’t in a readily defensible state.

Late Saturday morning, the nuisance control agent shared that there wasn’t a raccoon actively living in our crawl space. There is minimal damage and the entry places can easily be sealed up. This week, our house will no longer be a place for those vicious raccoons to sneak in.

After realizing we were no longer in immediate danger, I started to think about this a bit more. As soon as we called nuisance control, the raccoon was on borrowed time. Even though the nuisance control agent didn’t rush out and fix the problem Friday night, they were coming. The raccoon was never going to live under our house forever. As soon as nuisance control was called, we had set in motion the steps that would fix any damage and close up any access points.

Friends, here’s the thing, the devil is living on borrowed time as well. He loses! Victory is already ours. He may be prowling around looking for a place to sneak in so he can steal, kill and destroy, but Luke 10:19 says we have the authority to trample on scorpions and snakes and to overcome all the powers of the enemy. While it may feel like the enemy has the upper hand today, he never gets to win. God has a plan to restore all the places that the enemy has broke down.

Just as the raccoon felt like a viciously scary animal, the enemy likes us to believe he is bigger than he is. The enemy wants us to believe he is big and able to pull us apart easily. However, the enemy is weak. Just as that raccoon was never going to rip through our floor, the enemy doesn’t have the power to kill us.

So today, I challenge you to look at your spiritual house. Are there places you need to shore up from attack? Are you feeling like you are hopeless, hurting or maybe just starting to get complacent? Take a moment and dig into the word. What does God say about those places in your life?

If you have felt like the enemy has already taken some ground, I encourage you to use the authority given to you in Luke 10:19. Remind the enemy he doesn’t get to win. Remind him that he isn’t bigger than our God. Remind him who our God is.