Ain't No Devil Gonna Tread on Meنموونە

I’m about to turn 38, and I feel like I am just now starting to scratch the surfaces of self-awareness and self-discovery. I spent so much of my early life astonishingly shielded from the mirror of self-reflection because I let myself become distracted by all of the noise and business. I was afraid of not liking what I might see if I looked too deep into my own mirror. The truth is, as I look back on the last several years, I think I knew that there were caverns lurking in the depths of my heart that I needed to explore, but I was afraid of the monsters I might find. What if I didn’t have the weapons I needed to fight them and root them out? So, rather than plunging myself into the unknown, I lived in the tunnels of my soul that were more comfortable and well-charted. I knew that rooting out the deepest things would be excruciatingly painful, and I wasn’t willing to pay the price. I ignored the fact that the blood of Jesus, the Word of God, and my relationship with the Holy Spirit were ALL that I’ve ever needed to combat EVERY weapon that the enemy of my soul would like to bring against me.

The things we allow to lurk in the unknown darkest places of our hearts are the things that have the greatest opportunity to infiltrate what God might be wanting to do in and through us. I’ve loved Jesus for a long time, but I’ve not loved myself enough to see my heart through the lens of His mercy and compassion. Rather, through the lens of insecurity and fear, which can only ultimately lead to self-hatred. But, praise God that though His tenderness and grace, He has patiently pursued me with His love and has begun to show me how beautifully cathartic it is to venture into the places of my soul where He wants to bring healing. I don’t have to be afraid of what I might find, because my Father goes before me, and His strength is mysteriously both a shield around me and a weapon with which I can fight.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control," and it’s a verse I’ve known for the better part of my life. I’ve used it in moments of doubt and fear countless times. But now, I am learning that it’s not just a battle cry to be used in a difficult moment. It's also a lantern I can use to venture deeper and deeper into learning about who I am and who God is. What a brilliant light we have been given in Jesus, and He will breathe the all-consuming fire of His love wherever we will open up the walls of our hearts. And it is there, in the ashes of the caverns, that the river of the blood of Jesus begins to grow a garden of new life. What a Savior!

For me, every time we sing “Don’t Tread On Me”, it’s a reminder of all of these promises and the freedom that I have from all the things that have ever and will ever try to haunt me.

-Scott from We The Kingdom