A Stolen Life

As eleven-year-old Jacee Dugard was making her way to the school bus stop, a car pulled up beside her. Someone approached her and she felt a sudden shock. The next thing she realized, she was in the trunk of a car, drifting in and out of consciousness. All she remembers are the words, "I can't believe we got away with it." From there Jaycee was transported to the home of convicted sex offender, Phillip Garrido who had been released on parole. Here, she was given the name Allissa and locked in a shed in a back yard where she was to spend the next eighteen years of her life. She was repeatedly raped and bore two children until a suspicious parole officer uncovered the crime and Jaycee was returned to her estranged family.

As horrible as it was, the story of Jacee Dugard is not as uncommon as one might think. Jaycee's story is the story of a stolen identity and a stolen life. It's my story It's your story. Did you realize that you were actually born to royalty. That's right, you have another home waiting for you in heaven, but the devil has stolen your identity. He has convinced you that you are a child of this world. He has raped you and abused you and convinced you are an animal, merely the offspring of apes. He has convinced you that you are inherently no good, unable to live a holy life, and simply doomed to suffer a life of sin, so you mutter through life thinking that this is all there is. Like Jessie, you are born in a bad condition and sometimes you feel like there is no escape, but there is an escape from sin. Like Jessie, your rescue is on the way.

So there you are. Like Jaycee, you have been beaten up and abused. You have been lied to and raped by the devil. You look at your life and wonder how you ended up here. Like Jaycee, you feel trapped by circumstances. Satan has you held in by so many walls. Perhaps the walls of debt, anger, bitterness, depression, addiction, pornography, drugs or alcohol keep you in chains. Maybe your spouse or lover has abandoned you. Maybe a lost job has left you fighting to get by. So there you are, trapped in your little tin house, locked in by the chains of circumstances. 

Like Jaycee, you are a victim of the devil. You have been tricked. You have been lied to. Some have even been convinced that they don't have a loving Father who is looking for them, so they are resigned to their little tin cages. Just as Phillip Garrido stole Jaycee's identity, the devil has stolen your identity, taken you from your heavenly Father, brought you into his home, and raped your life. He has convinced you that this is all there is, but there is more to this life that what you have experienced.

You have been taken away from your heavenly parent. Isn't it time you renew your relationship with Jesus Christ? Jaycee was finally able to go home and restore her relationship with her true family. Don't you think its time you restore your relationship with your heavenly Father? Haven't you been locked up by the chains of addiction for long enough? Hasn't the ceiling of despair lingered over your head long enough? Haven't the walls of heartache distanced you from the people for long enough? Isn't it time you think about returning home? Jesus is calling you right now. You don't have to wait any longer. You can come home today. Don't you hear the voice of Jesus calling? "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Mt. 11:28).