Crushing Serpents.
Huntington Gardens - CA
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.
“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
-Genesis 3:1-5
I will never forget the first time I crushed the head of the serpent under my feet. I was only six-years-old at the time.
"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." -Luke 10:19
My best friend from church would often come over to our house to play dress-up with my brother, our dog, and I. My favorite pastime was pretending to be fairy princesses, ruling and reigning over the lush green forest of our backyard. We would dirty our hands picking berries from the bushes to make mud pies, pretend to decorate “the castle,” and practice flying—leaping from the swing set to see how far our fairy “wings” could carry us. Most days we’d play for hours, climbing into the treehouse, bouncing on the trampoline, and setting off on imaginary adventures of pure childhood bliss.
But on this specific day, all was not well in the fairy-kingdom.
I don’t remember the exact details of what happened that day when the serpent came for me—only that whatever it was completely overtook me. Somehow, I had opened the door to the enemy—and by “enemy,” I mean a heavy, demonic darkness not fit for the innocence of childhood play. We weren’t pretending to be witches or watching horror movies, we were simply playing outside. What had happened to cause this darkness to rule over me? Honestly, it was probably something as simple as harboring an offense while arguing over who would be the fairy-queen that day or refusing to take turns on the slide. No matter how small it may seem, unforgiveness can open the door to spiritual oppression in our lives. Storing up unforgiveness and offense in our hearts is one of the biggest open doors we can have, which is why the Bible tells us to be quick to forgive one another. After all, forgiveness is the very foundation of the Gospel and a life with Christ - we forgive because He first forgave us.
"Anyone you forgive, I also forgive… in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes." -2 Corinthians 2:10–11
I had shifted from being a gentle, mystical garden beauty to a hard-hearted, screaming monster. Pure hatred invaded me and I no longer wanted to play fairies or anything else for that matter. I could feel the hot lava of spite bubbling up from my toes and polluting my very essence. My little mind was racing with thoughts of never wanting to see my friend ever again. Just as my heart was growing increasingly cold, my mom came outside to see what the commotion was all about.
Not long after that, my friend’s mom came over to pick her up. When she arrived, we were fighting and ignoring my mothers attempts to intervene. I can vaguely recall my mom sharing with her that she couldn’t figure out what had happened between us.
“They have been playing so nicely for most of the day…” My mother’s puzzled look said all that was needed to say.
“Oh honey, this is just spiritual warfare. Jump babies, jump!”
Her daughter started jumping on the sidewalk outside our house, making me more and more angry.
“Crush the head of the serpent, baby. Just jump! Stomp him out. The devil can’t have your friendship. JUMP!!”
I stood there in my anger, stubbornly refusing to engage while my friend battled in the spirit for our friendship in the simple way she knew how. Jumping. Her family was well versed in the things of the Spirit and she was used to this. My mom was amazed. Both her and my dad had grown up Lutheran, studying the Bible in school and attending church, but learning about Holy Spirit and engaging in spiritual warfare was something new for them.
"In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." -Ephesians 4:26-27
My friend began to giggle as she continuously hopped, putting her hands up like a bunny rabbit.
“Just jump! Just jump!”
Her laughter alone confronted the schemes of the enemy and broke it’s grip on me. With just one jump, he was crushed under my sparkly princess slippers and I tangibly felt a demon leave my body as my feet hit the concrete. The joy of the Lord filled me instead of the hatred and we both started to twirl and leap - higher and higher. We parted ways at the sidewalk outside my house with big hugs and tender apologies.
I may have only been six-years-old, but I learned something that day that has stayed with me ever since: the enemy can’t have me - he is under my feet in Jesus name. The same is true for you. No matter how young, small, or unprepared you may feel to face what comes against you, remember this: Jesus has already won the victory on the cross and purchased your freedom from every scheme of the enemy. Sometimes we just need to pick up our feet and remind the enemy where his place is.
"He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." -Colossians 2:13-15
Identifying the schemes of the enemy, differentiating them from our own thoughts and feelings and taking authority when needed is a daily practice. Because believe it or not, the lies of the enemy that were whispering to me at 6-years-old are much different than the lies that come at me at 34-years-old. At six, the enemy wanted me to hate my best friend and not have any fun playing in my backyard. At thirty-four, he wants me to believe the lie that I’m undesirable, will be single and alone the rest of my life and never step into the promises of God over my finances or my future.
Regardless of our age or how long we’ve walked with God, the enemy comes to destroy our relationships, attack our self-worth and do any and everything for us not to step into the good things that God has for us. Why? Because he doesn’t want us to testify of the goodness of God! The enemy has always been after the glory of God. We can’t let him have it.
He wants us to partner with the lies - to be like a stubborn 6-year-old stuck in a temper-tantrum when things don’t go our way instead of simply taking authority and crushing the head of the serpent in prayer by declaring the goodness of God over our lives regardless of what our earthly circumstances may seem to tell us.
What about you? Where is the enemy lying to you about your identity, your character or that of those around you, your future, finances, relationships, worth, etc.? What would it look like to take authority over the lies and step back into the truth of what God is saying over you?
Pray and stomp your feet as a prophetic act, reminding the enemy where he belongs in your life in Jesus’ mighty name! Amen.
Check out my recent book, Knowing I Am: A Study On The I Am Statements of God for more encouragement, declarations to speak over yourself and tools to grow in your faith.
Thanks for reading!
