He Picked the Wrong Mom

I’m writing this because I have to keep reminding myself of my rally cry. Maybe you need a rally cry too?

If this isn’t for you today, that’s okay. But I don’t think you stumbled onto it by accident.

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Somewhere in the middle of losing access to my child, I stopped feeling only grief and started feeling defiant. And I think it’s the most spiritually awake I’ve been in years.

Estrangement isn’t just a family wound. It is spiritual warfare. And the moment I saw that, I stopped grieving like a victim and started standing like a soldier.

Jesus said it Himself:

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” — John 10:10 (NLT)

Read that again, because both are true at the same time.

One plan is to rescue you, to set you apart, to set you free.

The other is to confuse you, to shame you, to destroy you.

Estrangement didn’t invent that war - it just walked you straight into the middle of it.

And the enemy is not subtle about which plan he’s running. He would love for you to stay in anger. He would love for bitterness to grow - to fester - to seep into and skew every single part of your life. He would love nothing more than to grow it so large, so heavy, that reconciliation becomes nearly impossible. Not because a door closed, but because your heart hardened behind it.

That’s not paranoia; that’s strategy. Paul names it outright when he tells us to stand against “the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). Schemes. Plans. Plural. He has more than one, and division is his favorite, because a house split against itself does his work for him.

I don’t know why estrangement walked into your story. I don’t know whose voice said what, who turned, who left, who stopped answering. But I know the enemy sees division and hurt and anger, and he leans in. He capitalizes. So whether spiritual warfare started your estrangement or not - I believe it is in it now.

Which is exactly why, when I say “Use this season. Don’t let it use you,” what I really mean is this: don’t let him have it. Don’t hand him the win.

And I’ll be honest with you - refusing to hand him that win has become the thing that gets me out of bed. I’m a little defiant by nature. Some days my entire motivation is simply refusing to give the enemy the satisfaction. I want him irritated. I want him furious that I am not consumed by sorrow, that I am not face-down in defeat, that I will not believe - not for one second - that his schemes get the final word.

Because this is personal now. I can see his fingerprints all over our estrangement, and honestly? It makes me angry.

Paul says “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12).

My child was never my enemy. The hurt is real, the distance is real but the actual war was never between me and my kid. It’s against the powers that profit from keeping us apart. So when the enemy reaches in and takes my child, he hasn’t captured the prize. He’s just shown his hand. The battlefield was never my child or our relationship. It was the spiritual forces betting I’d quit.

I have watched the Lord’s provision over my child with my own eyes, over and over again. I know Jesus is not finished.

And I know the enemy has miscalculated. He thought silence would starve my faith - instead it set me on fire for the Lord.

He came for my family.

If he thinks I’m going to lie down - be consumed - live in sorrow - grow roots in anger and bitterness - he is wrong.

He didn’t just fail to break me; he lit a fire in me. A fire to chase the Lord for myself. And then the Lord took it even further than I ever planned, because now I’m standing here handing other moms a torch and saying: Stand. And fight. He picked the wrong moms.

There are a lot of voices speaking on estrangement right now and they’ll teach you when to reach out, what to say, how to say it. They’ll teach you to settle your nervous system and you should. Do those things. Do all of them.

Scripture actually backs that up: Paul lists the whole armor - the belt, the breastplate, the shield, the helmet, the sword and then names the goal, that “having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). Having done all. You do the work, you make the wise calls, you regulate, you reach out, you repair what’s yours to repair and you “pray at all times in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18). Do the practical things. But do them while you seek the Lord.

Because if this wasn’t spiritual warfare before, it is now.

And if you believe that, like I do, my challenge to you is… what are you going to do about it?

Paul keeps answering with the same word, over and over: stand. Stand against the schemes. Withstand the evil day. And “having done all,” he says, “to stand” (Ephesians 6:13).

When you’ve done everything you know to do - stand.

When the silence is loud and the waiting is long - stand.

When the enemy circles back to whisper that it’s hopeless - plant your feet and stand.

And you do not stand alone. This is the promise the enemy is desperate for you to forget:

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” — Exodus 14:14

To be still, isn’t defeat - it’s confidence. It means you can stop bracing for the worst, because the outcome is already settled and the One fighting for you has never lost. Not once.

So I’m not still because I’ve been beaten. I’m still because I’m trusting the Lord to do what He said He would do.

Let the enemy watch us pray when we want to panic, and worship through the weeping.

He came for our children… for our families..

He picked the wrong mothers.