Have you ever had anything stolen from you? I remember when I was about 11 years old and my favorite thing in the whole world was stolen from me while playing pinball at a nearby bowling alley. It was a summer day, I was having fun sticking quarters in one of the popular games at the alley and after an hour or so I went outside to get my bike and ride home and it was gone. My gold stingray bike with that stylish high back bar and banana seat, was missing. I ran around the building multiple times looking to see if someone had just moved it. No such luck! It was gone and so was my fun. I walked home feeling powerless and hurt. The sting of being robbed of something I loved had its grip on my heart and mind with no sense of it being returned.

In 2007 my wife and I felt that sting of being robbed when we lost little baby Harris after 6 weeks of pregnancy. Having two healthy children prior to this loss had not prepared us for the JOLT of suddenly realizing that what we loved had been stolen from us and we were powerless to bring it back. The sting got even worse after losing baby Joey and then baby Angela, our second and third miscarriages. This was when we began to wonder if God was taking our babies from us and had to walk that difficult journey of discovering who the real enemy was.

The Bible tells us in Genesis chapter 3 that Satan intruded into the serene lives of Adam and Eve while living harmoniously in the Garden of Eden and deceived them into doubting what God had said about who they were in relation to Himself.  It was there that Satan first stole the truth of how much God loved them and that He could be trusted with life’s choices.

This deception eventually led to the loss of their second child, Abel and the killing hasn’t stopped since. In John 10:10 it says that the enemy (Satan) comes to steal, kill and destroy. Thousands of years later he is still robbing God’s children of the blessings that God had prepared to give to His children before the beginning of time. 

The March of Dimes states that 10-15% of all pregnancies in the US end in loss. Miscarriage before the twentieth week is, unfortunately, common. On top of that, there are approximately 24,000 babies that are stillborn each year. The enemy (you use enemy here but haven’t explained it very clearly other than quoting a verse) is very busy stealing the joy of many families who want nothing more than to hold their precious baby and see him or her grow up.

Can you relate to this kind of loss? Have you had a baby stolen from your life? Perhaps you have suffered loss in another way. Whether it is a bike, car, personal items or worse yet, a child we know from scripture that there’s one entity behind it and that is the enemy of our soul. He delights in taking what he can and when he can with the intent to destroy us. What he’s looking to destroy is our trust in The One who made us.

John 10:10 ends with Christ having the final word over death and loss. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  Christ says, He has come that we may have life and have it to the full. PLEASE don’t miss that. God’s intention supersedes the enemy’s intention. If we will allow Him, He will restore that which was taken from us. How do we know this? Because He gave his life to guarantee it. With His resurrection loss and death were ultimately overcome and the final word will be life.

I eventually got a new bike, Laura and I eventually had Jordan our third child and I know women who have recovered their loss of the ability to have children or miscarriages through adoption. I’m sure you have known men and women who have turned their loss into gain by using the sting of loss to create something new that had never been conceived of prior to their loss. It is important to remember that God’s restoration from loss doesn’t always look like our plans or dreams.

If you are still reeling from the sting of loss and death, ask God to help you see that He is NOT the thief.  Satan is our true enemy and is the one who has been deceiving and stealing from us. His deception goes all they way back to the Garden of Eden.  Ask God to help you find the abundant life that He has in mind for you. I assure you from personal experience that He does indeed have much more for you to possess than you have lost.

After we lost baby Angela, our third child, I felt God lead me to write Cynthia’s Dance, an inspiring story that brings healing to the hearts and souls of those who have lost a loved one. You can see a short video on what the story is all about at cynthiasdance.com.