The Great Custody Battle
By Abraham Eli
Child with mother. Photo credit: Brandless
After watching a movie on a child custody battle, it dawned on me that there is a similar, yet more significant and fierce custody battle going on in the world today.
The movie, which was a true-life story, was about a man who murdered his wife, and upon being charged with the crime and eventually convicted, asked his parents to ensure that the only child of the marriage be raised by them. Well, the family of the murdered woman got to know of it and immediately filed for custody of the child in the state in which they live, their sister (and daughter), and her husband lived until her death and his conviction. The court granted shared custody of the child until a final ruling was made on the matter. Unable to reach a final decision that would satisfy all parties, the judge asked both lawyers to work out a more permanent arrangement for his ruling. Eventually, the lawyers came up with an arrangement which would give the child's paternal grandparents custody for two weeks, at which time they would be free to take the child to their home-state; and that midway into the two-week temporary custody, the child's maternal uncle and aunt could visit pending their taking final and full custody at the end of the two-week temporary custody.
Once the child was safe with the paternal grandparents, they got a lawyer to file for and obtained a bogus and dubious adoption of the child under the laws of the state in which they resided. When the child's uncle and aunt got ready to visit as agreed, midway into the 'temporary' custody, they were stunned to be informed by the paternal grandparents that they had adopted the child! Thus a long and costly child custody battle began. Through all means available at their disposal elected judges, a 'not-so-clean' lawyer, their church minister and members, etc., the child's paternal grandparents fought to keep the child with them. On the other hand, the child's maternal uncle and aunt used the media, lawyers, Rights groups, local fundraisers, etc., to fight to regain custody. Eventually, the child's maternal uncle and aunt won the legal battle and shortly afterward, adopted the child as their own.
What was fascinating about this child custody saga was the extent to which the child's father, who had murdered his wife, could go to have custody of the child. Also fascinating was the support he got from his parents. Of course, it was fascinating to watch how the child's maternal uncle and aunt (who had a child of their own, who was only slightly younger than the child at the center of the custody battle) concentrated so much on this child even though they had one of their own. Perhaps, the most fascinating of all was the innocence of the child at the center of the custody battle he was so young (barely a few months old when it all began), he didn't even know what was going on. He just innocently was in the hands of whoever the law kept him with. At one time during the custody battle, he was given to foster parents whom neither party in the custody battle knew.
This story depicts so clearly what I see as 'The Great Custody Battle!' This battle goes on each day in the heavenlies over the inhabitants of the earth. And there's nothing spooky about this it is real! The parties concerned are the devil and God. And the child, in this case, is you and I.
It is amazing the extent to which the devil would go: He will ensure that the memory of God, who created you and I, is deleted from human society, for example, stopping the reading of the Holy Bible in schools, and stopping the preaching of the word of God in some parts of the world. Some of the satanic wiles are so subtle that one can miss it. A very good example is the much brandied 'separation of church and state', drug habits leading to addiction which cannot be broken, except by divine intervention, and incurable sicknesses and diseases.
On the other hand, it is amazing the extent to which God has gone to have custody of man. He gave his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be brutalized and killed in order to bring salvation to man; He sent His Holy Spirit into the world to supervise and direct missionary effort; and He sends men and women as missionaries to different parts of the world (where some are derided and even murdered) to preach the good news of His kingdom. He has sent us with this message to you: that He loves and cares for you, and wants custody of you so that He can show His power and eternal purpose in you.
Most fascinating of all is the subject of the custody; you! For many people, they don't even know that such a battle rages on daily. For some others, they get to know, but when faced with making a choice on whose side they want to stay, many make wrong choices because they have been taken in by a trap of deception, and have believed the devil, who is both the 'father of lies', and the master of deception. He is seeking to devour the ignorant and unsuspecting; his 'modus operandi' is to steal, kill, and destroy, and he does all these through subtlety on unsuspecting men and women.
Today, I bid you to make an informed decision. Know for a certainty that you are indeed at the center of a custody battle and the two Parties involved will go to any length to keep you: Satan, to keep you in perpetual bondage and defeat; and Jesus Christ, to bring you into liberty, victory, and peace with God and man. As you ponder on this article and you reach the point of decision, choose the side of Jesus Christ, which leads to eternal life! The decision for eternal life can only come from knowing God through His Son Jesus Christ. Make that decision today!