Wide Awake: Recognizing the Slippery Slopes Before You Fall

By Jessica Brodie

My daughter shared a reel with me recently that featured a majestic penguin swaggering before his audience at the aquarium. With all the erect posture he could muster, he waddled down the plastic ramp toward the water, clearly preparing to show off his diving skills before the adoring crowd.

But the foot of this majestic male penguin slipped on some water, and the poor fellow soon found himself flying through the air, only to land unceremoniously on his rump. Instead of awe, he prompted laugher and pity.

Most of us have been there, at least figuratively. Hopefully we haven’t taken a nasty fall in front of dozens at an aquarium, our clumsiness captured forever on someone’s iPhone for all the world to see. But we’ve been strutting our stuff, thinking we’re doing just fine . . . only to fall flat on our rump, any illusions of grandeur gone in a blink.

Just like one slick spot can cause a slip, many of us are aware this applies to other areas of our lives, too. Our descent into sin often starts with something tiny. A “quick peek” at a photo or video we shouldn’t be looking at. An “innocent” flirtation. A lie to “save face.”

One crack of the door gives evil a foot inside.

Many of you know I write Christian contemporary fiction. In my latest novel Hidden Seeds, which comes out May 5, the protagonist’s younger sister Hayley starts talking with a new friend online. That friend starts her down a bad path. What Hayley doesn’t realize is what’s actually going on—her “friend” is grooming her for a trafficking ring.

Grooming is a calculated, methodical, and extremely sneaky process used by traffickers to befriend, manipulate, and build trust with a potential victim to prepare them for sexual exploitation. Ultimately, the trafficker gains control over the victim’s emotions and needs, often leading the victim to believe they’re in a romantic relationship or friendship rather than a trafficking situation.

I won’t tell you how everything ends in the book, as I hope you’ll read it. But the point here is not the book—it’s to make the point that evil, awful things sometimes aren’t obvious until it’s too late. Trafficking doesn’t always happen because of some violent kidnapping; it’s sly and deceptive. Domestic violence doesn’t always start overnight; often it begins with gaslighting, manipulation, and isolation. Someone doesn’t usually wake up one day and decide to be a murderer or a thief or an adulterer; there are usually slippery little precursors we can see if our eyes are open.

Proverbs 4:14-15 urges, “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way” (NIV).

1 Peter 5:8 warns, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Mark 14:38 says, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Ephesians 4:27 says, “Do not give the devil a foothold.”

Just like that penguin who didn’t intend to fall, we must remember those “slick spots” are always there. But unlike him, we don’t have to wait until we’re airborne to correct our course. God’s Word gives us the warning signs, the wisdom, and the way out.

Stay alert. Stay prayerful. And when you notice a slippery patch forming beneath your feet—whether it’s a screen you linger on too long, a conversation that starts pulling you somewhere it shouldn’t, or a small compromise you keep justifying—don’t take another step in that direction. Your soul is worth protecting.

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MY NEW NOVEL RELEASES MAY 5

I’m so excited to announce that my novel *Hidden Seeds*—book 3 in the Dahlia Series—launches May 5. Here's the cover. What do you think? *Hidden Seeds* is about a woman who is rebuilding her life after devastating betrayal and loss. She opens a small-town art shop, where an unlikely friendship with a human trafficking survivor is tested when her teenage sister disappears into the same darkness her new friend barely escaped. It will be available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook. Learn more about the book here.

A great team is always behind any successful book. If you’’re interested in being a part of the launch team for my faith-based novel, *Hidden Seeds*, click here to fill out the form and join. Or if you prefer, just email me at jessica@jessicabrodie.com.

Come hang out with me!

If you live anywhere near Charlotte/Rock Hill, I’ll be at the Fort Mill Public Library in South Carolina April 18 from 10-12 for a free Carolina Christian book event . Come see me! You’ll be able to meet and chat with Christian authors, buy books, meet other Christian readers, and have some fun. Authors in addition to me are Robert Whitlow, Misty M. Beller, Vincent B. Davis II, E.V. Sparrow, Pamela Lewis, Dianne Miley, Jennifer Chastain, Seralynn Lewis, Kyle Hunter, Tim Eichenbrenner, Janice Cole Hopkins, Heidi Gray McGill, and Katherine Pasour, plus The Wandering Words and Sparkler Magazine.