FROM THE CORNER OF THE HALLWAY TO THE CENTER OF HIS STORY
Captured by the artistic lens of Mitchell Royel in the vibrant heart of the Fashion District, this moment stands as a testament to creativity and divine gratitude. With every frame, Royel immortalized the essence of the atmosphere as we lifted our hands in celebration and praise, moving to the rhythm of "Stalking Me" by SWISH. The energy of the space, combined with the powerful beats of the track, created an electrifying harmony that was impossible to ignore. The song’s resonance and Royel’s vision met beautifully, offering a snapshot of light, artistry, and shared joy in the midst of an unforgettable moment.
Before we talk about the man Jane married, we have to talk about the day a pastor found her crying in the hallway.
It was after a Wednesday service. The sanctuary had emptied, the lights in the fellowship hall had dimmed, and the building had gone quiet the way only church buildings do after the people leave. And there she was — tucked into the corner by the coat racks, shoulders shaking, hands pressed against her mouth like she was trying to hold something in that had already spilled out. Soft, broken weeping. The kind a person tries to hide.
The pastor did what any shepherd would do. A chair was pulled beside her, and he sat down. He didn't rush her. He didn't preach at her. He just waited — because the Scripture says there is a time to weep and a time to be silent before there is a time to speak. Ecclesiastes three, verse four and seven. Some griefs cannot be hurried, and some stories only come out when a person finally feels safe enough to tell them.
And after a long while, Jane told him.
She told him about a church she used to visit — not her home, not her family, just a place she went sometimes. A Tuesday night Bible study. She was welcome there, but she was not known there. She'd slip in a few minutes late and slip out before the last prayer. She smiled at faces she couldn't name. She was present, but she was on the edges. Involved, but not planted. Visible, but not covered.
And that, church, is exactly the space where the enemy loves to hunt.
The Word of God warns us plainly. First Peter five, verse eight tells us to be sober, be vigilant, because our adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Lions do not chase the center of the herd. They circle the edges. They watch for the one that has drifted. And Jane, through no fault of her own, had drifted to the edge.
Because there was a man in that study. Jane noticed him the way one notices a shadow that moves when nothing else does. At first it was small things — he always chose the seat where he could watch her. He asked questions that weren't about her walk with God but about her life. Where did she work? What time did she usually leave? Did she come alone?
She brushed it off, the way we teach our women to brush things off. Be nice. Don't make it awkward. You're probably imagining it.
But then she saw it in his eyes.
Not attraction. Not friendliness. Fixation. That flat, hungry, unblinking look that no godly love has ever worn. And in that moment her spirit knew what her manners kept trying to deny — this was not a brother in Christ admiring her. This was a predator who had marked her. She was being stalked. And she had told him things. Small things, ordinary things, the kind of details a person shares when they believe they are among the safe. Where she parked. When she came. The road she took home.
Beloved, we must stop right here. There is something the Body of Christ needs to understand, and too many of our daughters have learned it the hard way.
There is a profound difference between being rooted, being involved, and being exposed — and that difference can mean everything.
Psalm one, verse three describes the person rooted in the Lord as being like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither. To be rooted in a church body is to be that tree — planted, not merely passing through. People know a sister's name and notice her absence. When she doesn't show up, someone calls. When something feels wrong, there are leaders who will stand between her and the danger. Hebrews thirteen, verse seventeen tells us that leaders watch out for our souls. That covering is not ceremonial — it is spiritual armor worn on behalf of the flock.
To be merely involved is a different thing altogether. A person can be there and remain peripheral. Seen, but not truly known. And someone who is visible but unprotected is like a lamp burning in an open window — everyone can see the light, but no one is watching who comes to the glass. That was Jane. She was involved enough to be noticed by a predator, but not rooted enough to be shielded by a shepherd.
And to be stalked — church, hear this — is to be targeted precisely because of that isolation. Proverbs eighteen, verse one says, a man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment. The predator is a man of isolation — he isolates himself from accountability, and he pursues those who are isolated from covering. He does not choose the woman surrounded by brothers and sisters who know her face, her father, her pastor, her people. He chooses the one on the edges. The one who came alone and will leave alone. The enemy is patient, and he studies the flock for the sheep that has wandered from the fold. Ezekiel thirty-four, verse five says that they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the beasts of the field. When the covering is absent, the predator advances.
So let these words be spoken plainly over every daughter of the King who needs to receive them. Not in fear — for Second Timothy one, verse seven declares that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind — but in wisdom, because Proverbs four, verse seven tells us that wisdom is the principal thing, and in all our getting, we must get understanding. Wisdom is how love protects what it treasures.
Do not come alone. Ecclesiastes four, verse nine through ten says two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. There is safety in the company of the faithful. Bring a sister. Meet a friend at the door. The Word said it long before the world caught up.
Trust the witness of the spirit. First John four, verse one tells us to test the spirits, whether they are of God. That unsettled feeling, that quiet alarm rising in the soul when something is wrong — that is not weakness, and it is not paranoia. Often it is the discernment that the Holy Spirit places within us as a gift. When it speaks, do not argue it into silence just to keep the peace. Proverbs three, verse seven says, do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.
Guard private details. Matthew ten, verse sixteen instructs us to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Kindness does not require handing a stranger the map to a life. Home addresses, daily schedules, the roads driven at night — these are not for casual acquaintances. Wisdom draws that line without apology.
Tell a leader. Proverbs eleven, verse fourteen reminds us that in the multitude of counselors there is safety. The moment something feels wrong, do not carry it alone and in secret. Speak to a pastor, an elder, someone in authority who can watch, who can act, who can stand between a sister and harm. James five, verse sixteen calls us to confess our faults to one another and pray for one another. Silence protects the predator. Speaking up protects the flock.
Park in the light. Walk to the car with others. John three, verse twenty tells us that everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. Let the shadows have no place to hide what should never be hidden.
And above all of these — be planted. Sink roots down deep into a church body that knows a name. Ephesians three, verse seventeen speaks of being rooted and grounded in love, and that rootedness in love begins with genuine, covenant community — people who know us, who call us by name, who would notice the empty chair. Not because a building can save anyone, but because a family watches over its own. First Corinthians twelve, verse twenty-six tells us that when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. That is the Body of Christ at work. Being deeply planted in that Body is not only spiritual protection. In a world like this one, it is often physical protection too.
Jane learned that lesson in the hallway that night, through tears, with a shepherd's hand resting gently on her shoulder. Together, they prayed. What needed to be reported was reported. The community gathered around her, and she was never again a woman standing alone on the edges. That broken evening was not the end of her story. It was the ground being cleared. It was the soil being turned. It was God, who causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose — Romans eight, verse twenty-eight — preparing her, protecting her, planting her for something she could not yet see.
Because the same God who kept her safe in the shadow of that danger was already writing the next chapter. He who had been faithful in the past — as the whole of Psalm one hundred and thirty-six declares — was faithful still. He was already preparing to bring a good man across her path. Not one who watched her with hungry eyes, but one who would cover her, honor her, and build a life beside her.
And that is where this story goes next.
-Pastor Mitchell Royel