The thunder was booming and the rain was beating on the roof. Kacey Matthews didn’t hear any of it. The only thing she heard were the words that were still ringing in her ear, louder than thunder when lightning hits close. “Sean is missing in action. Believed to have been abducted by enemy soldiers.”
Kacey didn’t know where to leave her thoughts. Her heart had never before felt such despair. Was her husband still alive? Would he come back? Would she ever see him again? And if not here on earth, would she see him in heaven? She shook her head as if to shake out these horrifying questions and forced herself to focus on other things. Max would soon be home from school and he’d be hungry, so she needed to finish the snack she had started to make before the phone had rung. She dreaded telling Max the news.
The days dragged by. With every passing day it seemed that Kacey would lose hope. She knew she was supposed to be strong for her son, but it was so hard. It seemed that Max had more faith than her and was being strong for her. When she had told him about the phone call, he had looked very sad for a moment. Then he had smiled and said, “Don’t cry, Mommy. God will bring Daddy back.” How did her six year old boy have such a tremendous amount of faith? Every night before getting into bed, he would kneel and pray for his daddy’s safety and homecoming.
One night Kacey’s church had a worship and miracles night. They would come together and whoever needed something to be prayed for could come to the front and then the entire church would pray. That night the worship team played “Fear is a liar”, a song that seemed to speak directly to her heart. Kacey had left Max at her sister’s house and decided that she would go to the front and ask for prayers for Sean. After that night she felt more at peace and she started sleeping better.
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About a month later…
…Bang, bang, bang. The knocking at the door sounded desperate. Kacey nearly jumped out of her skin. She had just fallen asleep and it was already late. Who on earth was at the door? Should she go see? Trembling, she made her way to the window to see if she could find out who it might be. All she could make out was the outline of a man. She figured if it was someone who wanted to harm her or Max they wouldn’t be knocking and waiting for the door to be opened. She decided to get over her fears and open the door. It might be someone who needed help and she didn’t want them to have to leave without it.
She flipped on the porch light before cautiously unlocking the door and slowly opening it. Her mouth fell open and tears flooded down her cheeks when she saw who it was. There, standing on the porch in the middle of the night, stood her beloved Sean. She fell into his arms in relief and sobbed against his chest. Without a word, Sean wrapped his arms around her and let her take it all in.
“Daddy, daddy!! I knew you’d come home!” Kacey turned in time to step out of the way of an excited Max, barreling towards the door and jumping into his father’s arms.
It was a joyful and tearful reunion. After a while Max fell asleep and Sean carried him to bed. He then returned to the living room and settled in next to his wife on the couch, pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “I’ve dreamt of this moment the last few months. It’s way sweeter than I could have possibly imagined.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Kacey looked up with caring eyes, not knowing if she really wanted to hear all the things that Sean must’ve gone through.
“It was terrifying,” Sean began. “I didn’t know if I was ever going to see you and Max again. When I was in captivity, I began to wonder what life is all about. I knew that you were going to church and that you’re a Christian. However, with all the things that I’d seen in war, it was hard for me to believe that there’s a loving God. If there was, why are all the bad things happening? Why wouldn’t He have changed circumstances so that I wouldn’t have gotten abducted? Anyway, when you’re being held prisoner, things change. I prayed and I meditated on the few Bibleverses that I knew by memory. That’s when I realized. God isn’t the one making all the bad things happen. He doesn’t push and pull people around like puppets. He gave us the ability to choose. He sent Jesus to die for sin and the curse, but we have to accept it. Because of Jesus’ death, we don’t only get to go to heaven, but we can even have an amazingly blessed and abundant life here on earth! Isn’t that wonderful?”
Kacey was getting emotional. This was more than she had even hoped for! Sean continued, “Anyway, once I realized that, I felt at peace and I knew that even if I died there, I would see my family again. I prayed every day out loud and in quiet. One night the guard came into my cell. Every time a guard came in, I got scared and thought, ‘What if this is it?’, but that night I felt at peace and not scared. When the guard saw that I wasn’t afraid, it stumped him and he seemed unsure of what to do now. He asked me why I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t sure how he’d react, but I decided to share my newfound faith with him. I told him about what I’d realized and what I believe. I told him about my wife and son and that I was sure they were praying for my safety. When I was done talking, I wasn’t sure what to expect. This tough guard started to cry and told me he had orders to kill me that night. That didn’t surprise me. What did surprise me is what he did next. He told me to be quiet and to follow him. He led me through the compound, pretending to take me into the woods to get his order over with. Once in the woods he said that he would kick a tree and with every blow I was supposed to cry out in pain. He would then shoot at the ground instead of at me. When it was over, he turned to me and said, ‘Your faith and the peace I saw in your eyes, saved your life tonight. You are outstanding. Run! Get out of here!’ ” Kacey looked up at Sean and saw his eyes had filled with tears. “I found my way back to my troops and the commanding officer told me to go home, that I’d done my duty. After a medical examination they got me out of there on the next available flight, and well, here I am!”
Kacey knew there was so much about that story that he hadn’t shared and she wasn’t about to force him into telling her everything. With time it might come out, but if it didn’t then that would be ok. She was so happy to have her husband home safe. She smiled at Sean and held him close. “Welcome home! We missed you so much!” Then she looked up and whispered, “Thank you, Jesus!”
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