“You said love wins,” Jay reminded him.

“Yes, it does,” said Mr. Erwin. “Love wins because Love unites. Evil's main goal is to divide you and separate you from God. Yet we know God loves you and created you to be one with and united with Him. When you are united, you can't be divided. When you are united, you are strong.”

“How do we become united with God?” asked Kay as she tapped her foot nervously. “I don't feel united very often. I often feel separate from God.”

“I feel the same way,” said Jay as he sighed and took a deep breath. “I often feel depressed and worried about everything. I hate worrying but I can't stop it.”

“I know the feeling,” said Mr. Erwin. “After my wife passed away, I was carrying a heavy burden. I felt very anxious and divided. I was angry at God and wasn't sure I wanted to even live anymore. I didn't care about life and yet felt anxious about life. I was like, why am I anxious if I don't care?”

“So what did you do?” asked Kay, who was feeling more anxious as they talked.

“It's not what I did that helped,” he answered. “It's what God did for me. You see, I tried to meditate, but that didn't seem to calm my restless, anxious, and angry heart. I know it works for a lot of people but I tried that and everything you can think of and nothing worked. Then one day I walked past the bookshelf and saw my wife's favorite books and something told me to read the one by Erwin McManus. I liked his first name so I picked it up and started reading it.

“It was about Jesus and it spoke to me. My wife always wanted me to go to church with her but I wouldn't go. I wasn't interested. After I read this book, I started listening to some of her favorite sermons. Many of them talked about this battle we are facing. They saw it so clearly while everyone else seemed oblivious to what was going on. Then I learned that Jesus's life and purpose is the answer to what happened in the garden.

“You see, what happened in the garden gets reconciled on the cross. What happened in the garden represents man's separation from God. Jesus represents man's unity, oneness, and reconciliation with God. Jesus died to unite man back to God. Evil thought it had won and God said not so fast. Then Jesus showed up and everything changed. It all made perfect sense. The pieces of the puzzle and two stories that were told thousands of years apart fit too perfectly together to be an accident. My friend Rich Villodas said it best, ‘Adam and Eve hid behind a tree, naked and covered in shame. Then Jesus hung on a tree, naked and conquered shame.’ The cross of Jesus is the great reversal. What was lost was now won. In the battle of good and evil, long before there was Superman, Wonder Woman, Luke Skywalker, and the Black Panther fighting evil with good, there was Jesus fighting evil for us and in his death on the cross, we won.”

“Why did he have to die?” asked Jay. “Most superheroes don't die.”

“Because the ultimate hero sacrifices for those they love. Because true love is sacrificial. Because God wanted us to know how much he loves us. In the battle of good versus evil, Jesus didn't just come to give us the practical answers. He came to be the answer. He came to unite and restore what had been divided and destroyed in the garden. The serpent represents the evil enemy we face. Jesus is God’s love and truth. And as I said before, love wins. What evil intended for bad, God used for good.”

“If Jesus wins, then how come so many Christians suffer from depression and anxiety and make bad choices and engage in evil acts?” asked Kay. Her family had gone to church since they were kids and she saw that the people closest to her were often losing the battle.

“Because knowing the story and living it are two different things,” he answered. “The enemy deceives them just like he deceives everyone. He causes them to forget who they are. They need to remember these truths as much as everyone. This isn't about religion. God isn't a religion. He is a relationship. Jesus didn't come for Christians. He came for everyone to be united to God. He's not a club you join. He's the love you invite into your heart that unites you with your creator who created you for a relationship with Him. Life is about inviting and receiving this love that transforms you from the inside out and gives you the power to take on the enemy and win the battle.”

“After my dad messed up, he said he asked my mom to forgive him and then he asked God to forgive him,” said Kay. “He told us that God did forgive him and over time we saw him change in a lot of ways.”

“He did,” confirmed Jay. “You could tell there was something different about him. We used to go to church and he would look around. But now I saw him pray, I mean really pray. Like he was talking to God and God was talking back.”

“The same thing happened to me,” said Mr. Erwin. “I too discovered the power of prayer and it changed my life. I always believed in God but never had much of a relationship with Him. When I prayed more, I found that prayer changes you more than it changes God. You don't do it because God needs your prayers. You do it because you need God. The more I prayed and read about Jesus and believed in what Jesus came to do for me and for us, my relationship with Him became deeper and more intimate. My heart opened and all of a sudden I started receiving all these insights I'm sharing with you. I felt more peace and love and joy. Even though I missed my wife, I was no longer angry. I believed in God and His plan and saw that there was so much more going on than what we see in front of us. I recognized the battle that was going on and saw that Jesus was the only one who came to help me win the battle. He not only saw evil and recognized it, he came to defeat it.

“As a result, I was no longer fighting a battle with one hand tied behind my back. I was no longer losing the battle by myself. I was winning it with Jesus. I wasn't trying to go at it alone anymore. I knew I wasn't strong enough. My identity was not in myself. I was now aligned with God. My identity was found in Him. I was a child of God and I was free to experience a life of freedom, love, peace, and joy.” Mr. Erwin then walked over to the statue of Jesus and said, “And let me tell you, there's no better feeling.”

“I want to feel that,” said Kay. “I'm tired of fighting this battle alone.”

“Me too,” said Jay. “I don't want to die anymore. I want to live life to the fullest.”

“Well, then come over here,” said Mr. Erwin, with a smile on his face. He reached out his hands, and they grabbed them and formed a circle around the statue of Jesus. “I'm glad you said you want to live life to the fullest, because Jesus didn't come to condemn or judge anyone. He came so that you would live life to the fullest. In this spirit, all you have to do is give your burdens, your pain, your anxiety, your fears, your stress, and your past to Jesus. You say I give it all to you Jesus. I give you my life. When you say this, God provides an exchange. You give him your life and your burden and pain, and He gives you His Life and Spirit. He unites you to Himself, and you become one. What was separated is now united. Victory is yours.”

Mr. Erwin paused and looked at their faces. He saw how the battle had weakened them and yet also realized that it brought them to this very moment. You try to fight it on your own and when you realize you aren't strong enough you become open to a greater strength. Most, unfortunately, don't know this greater strength is available to them. “Are you ready? Do you want to try it?” he asked.

Jay and Kay nodded in unison and said the simple prayer together. Then something happened. It was something they couldn't explain. It was something that you couldn't understand until you experienced it yourself. They started to cry and then they started to weep. They couldn't stop. It was as if all their fears, stress, anxiety, and pain that had been bottled up inside them were being released at once. The flood gates opened and everything came pouring out and what was left was something that was always there. It was the eternal love of God that they were now able to feel.

Mr. Erwin hugged both of them with an arm around each. When the tears subsided, they decided to meet again tomorrow afternoon. He told them this was just the beginning of a deeper conversation they would be having with God throughout their life but it was an important moment they should never forget.

And as Jay and Kay walked out of the backyard, Mr. Erwin knew it was a moment that would make all the rest of their moments more meaningful and abundant. Words wouldn't be able to explain it. They would have to experience it to know it. Like his favorite chocolate cake at the café down the street. You could tell someone about the cake but they wouldn't know how good it was until they ate it. If you never ate the chocolate cake, you wouldn't understand what people who had the cake were talking about when they talked about it. Some might even think you were crazy for loving the cake so much. But those who ate the cake knew how good it was and would be able to understand and share in the power of that experience.