It was a beautiful Sunday morning. My wife, Erin and I, were sipping some coffee in the kitchen while the boys slept in until the final minutes before we needed to leave for church. This was one of the rare quiet moments in our home these days; our boys can even manage to sleep loudly some nights. We were enjoying our slow start and nice conversation when I felt another presence enter the kitchen. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a small hand pointed like a gun slowly reveal itself from the side of the doorway (pictured below). Our Stormtrooper loving four year old, Knox, was planning a sneak attack on his Jedi parents. Erin and I played it cool as the gun shaped hand gently disappeared. We both gazed at the doorway as the smallest sliver of Knox’s eye, nose and hair peered into the kitchen (also pictured below) as to check to see if his cover had been blown. I wanted to say, “Dude, I can see you!” He thought that he was being completely devious and unseen. He then pivoted his right foot and swung the left to the middle of the doorway with his blaster held high. We had been ambushed! Well, sort of. This ambush ended with laughs, hugs and smiles but you may find it surprising that this this isn’t the only sneak attack we experience on Sunday mornings.

There are some Sundays when getting to church feels like an all-out war. Many Sunday mornings are filled with spilled drinks, short tempers, jammed garage doors, dropped food, alarm clocks that didn’t go off, lost car keys, dead cell phones that never charged the night before and an array of things that seem to go wrong. On top of that, I suddenly can think of fifty reasons to skip the morning completely. The more serious surprise attack we receive on Sunday mornings is from the enemy himself.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Plain and simple, the enemy doesn’t want our family (or yours) at church. Let’s take it even further, our enemy the devil doesn’t want us worshiping Jesus in any capacity. The quicker we can come to terms with that, we’ll be ready for battle. Jesus told us that the devil is the father of all lies and deception. However, there are times when we can say to our enemy, “Dude I can see you! This isn’t an ambush at all. It’s Sunday morning and my wife is singing at church, I knew you’d be here to throw us off track and I’ve already submitted myself to Jesus, go ahead and flee.”

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

Prepare your hearts for worship in advance. Pray through putting on all of God’s armor, perhaps even the night before.

^“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:10-18

Make this declaration with me. Our family might be a little late on Sunday mornings. Our kids may not have matching shoes or brushed hair either but we WILL be worshipping. Hey, no one said shoes of the gospel ever had to match right?

Just fishing with my daddy,

Ryan