“But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.”
(Matthew 13:25)
Children are not accessories.
They are not footnotes to your calling.
They are assignments.
Precious gifts from heaven entrusted into your hands.
Today, I stumbled upon a short video, barely a minute long, yet it stirred something deep within me. It showed a mother rabbit being distracted with a carrot. As she eagerly took the bait, someone else quietly reached into her shelter and stole away ALL her babies.
That video shook me.
It wasn’t just a video, it was a warning. A visual representation of a spiritual truth; distraction can lead to vulnerability.
A wake up call to Parents! Because mama, while you were out there chasing after the carrot, seeking money, building that career, “doing it all” for your child, the enemy came.
He didn’t need an invitation. He came while you slept.
He sowed tares while you were toiling.
He infiltrated your home while you were pouring out your life to “secure” the future.
He Crept In
The thief didn’t come with horns and fire.
He came with comfort.
With attention.
With the love and presence our children so desperately craved.
He came with things he wasn’t even capable of giving because all he really knows to do is steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10)
He came in the form of:
endless screen time
unchecked peer influence,
subtle media messages, and
emotional voids.
He came not just when you were distracted, but even when you were doing “good things” like ministry, work, hustle…
Sometimes, the enemy shows up like a loving friend, a safe place, an escape.
Sometimes he shows up in the apps, the chats, the silence, the loneliness.
And before we know it, our children are being discipled by a system we were meant to shield them from.
A Child’s Cry: All I Want is YOU
I remember a session I took on parenting during a Clubhouse conversation. As I spoke, the conversation gently drifted toward the importance of being present for our children, and the deep, often invisible wounds that parental absence can leave behind.
In the middle of that session, something remarkable happened.
A single mother in the room felt deeply convicted. Her teenage daughter had grown cold and distant, and it had been weighing heavily on her heart. She had been working multiple jobs, pouring herself out to give her child what she believed was “the best life”; comfort, stability, and opportunities. But in that moment, she realized she might have been missing what mattered most.
So, right there in the middle of the meeting, she stepped away and approached her daughter. She looked her in the eye and asked, “How are you really doing? What could I do differently that would mean the world to you?”
Her daughter burst into tears.
She missed her.
Not the shoes, the gadgets, the vacations.
She missed her mother.
Proverbs 17:1 says “Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife.”
Better a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting, but no mom, no dad, just empty chairs they were meant to fill, and the cold embrace of phones and screens.
Honestly, better garri and sugar with love than spaghetti bolognese, Chinese rice, and cold, chilled juices with silence and absence.
And just to be clear, this isn’t me saying you have to be poor to raise children God’s way. It’s about choosing presence over performance, connection over comfort.
The “best life” isn’t made of luxury. It’s made of love, presence, and discipleship.
Daddy may have won a thousand souls outside. He may be the most famous apostle or evangelist. Mama may be like Deborah, one of the greatest female prophets, traveling the world, opening the heavens, and giving prophetic words that never fall to the ground unfulfilled. But what about the sons and daughters in their house?
Eli, while a servant of God, a priest who taught what was right and wrong and offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people for their sins, lost his own sons to iniquity. God said concerning Eli in Samuel 3:13: “For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them.”
God is not asking us to abandon our assignments. He’s asking us to steward all our assignments in wisdom and balance, especially the ones closest to home. He’s not calling us to fear, He’s calling us to watch. Matthew 26:41 to “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation, because while we sleep, the enemy still comes.
A Moment of Reflection
In what way are you sacrificing your children?
Are they the burnt offering you are paying for your career?
Or even for your ministry?
Raising children and doing the Lord’s work can feel like a heavy mix.
But beloved, have you paused to ask God for wisdom?
Have you laid all He’s given you; your dreams, your calling, your work, at His feet?
James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Please, don’t seek money, career, or fame at the expense of these little ones.
The world will clap for your success, but your children will feel your absence in their soul.
And if you don’t yet have children, now is the time to make room in your heart and in your life for the sacrifices they will require. When the time comes, may you be ready, willing to adjust, to pause, to slow down when needed, to raise godly seeds who will one day rise and call you blessed.
A Parent’s Cry for Wisdom (Prayer of Repentance and Rededication)
Please pray this prayer if you feel led to repent, if you sense a need to make a fresh commitment to your family, or if you feel you’ve abandoned your post at home.
Dear God,
I come to You today with open hands and an honest heart.
I acknowledge the places where I have been distracted
even by good things
and I confess that in my pursuit of provision, I may have left the gate open.
Lord, forgive me.
Forgive me for every time I thought the gift was more important than the Giver.
For every time I chose hustle over presence, activity over attention, ministry over my own home.
Help me to see my children as You see them
as divine assignments, not interruptions.
As arrows to be shaped, not burdens to be endured.
Grant me wisdom, Lord Jesus Christ.
Wisdom to balance calling with care, vision with vigilance.
Teach me to number my days,
to discern what truly matters,
to be present; spirit, soul, and body.
I lay it all before You today, my work, my dreams, my fears, my exhaustion.
I surrender afresh.
Breathe upon my home.
Guard my gates.
Cover my children.
And help me, by Your Spirit, to rise as a watchman over their souls.
I receive Your grace, and I rededicate myself to this sacred trust.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Join The Fortress Prayer Circle
If this message stirred something deep within you, we invite you to take it a step further.
The Fortress Prayer Circle is a weekly prayer community under Hephzibah’s Manor, a space where parents, future parents, and mentors gather to intercede, share wisdom, and cover the next generation.
We’ve now opened The Fortress to everyone, whether married, unmarried, waiting, parenting, or somewhere in between. If you carry a burden to raise children God’s way, then you belong here.
All participants must register to be added to the WhatsApp community.
Register via: https://forms.gle/SRMzj8Ju5ZT31t1o9
Meetings hold weekly on Google Meet
WhatsApp remains our primary platform for updates and connection.
Let’s build a stronghold of light for the next generation. Together. Let us partner with the Holy Spirit to raise watchful homes, to speak life, to touch hearts, to plant truth, to be present—not just in body, but in spirit and soul.
