(You may want to listen to the song “Unstoppable” by Sia” before reading this post. 😄)

I was driving my children and a friend to their Homeschool Community Day. This is a weekly “class” day, designed for our children to come together to socialize and to go over their homeschooling lessons. This year, our family is joining a new community made up of many new families. In most cases, the idea of meeting new people can bring about anxiety, so I decided to play some energizing music to get us pumped up, much like a coach would motivate their team before a game.

I chose to blast Sia’s song “Unstoppable” as loud as possible through the car speakers. (If you haven’t heard this song, you may want to listen to it, and then come back.😄) While rocking out to this song, heading down the highway, the lyrics began to float throughout my car, registering their understanding in my mind only slightly before they rested on my children’s ears. Suddenly, for the first time, I noticed that the words reflected an intention that was clearly not rooted in Christ Jesus. By the lead-in to the chorus, I felt compelled to pause the song and reflect on the lyrics: 

“I put my armor on, show you how strong I am, I put my armor on, I’ll show you that I am, I’m unstoppable…”

This required an urgent reset. 

The line “I’ll show you that I am” may seem like a creative stutter phrase to bridge the verse to the chorus, but a deeper look points to something Christians should ponder and interpret more clearly. My analysis highlighted that the use of the contraction “I’m” instead of matching the previous words “I” and “am,” the singer’s “I’m” presents a personal challenge, even a declaration that elevates her strength above the divine “I AM,” a title recognized by Christians as referring to God. The effect is that the focus changes from her power-of-being – her I am; to the being-in-power – the I AM. This point is even more dramatic when you consider the full phrasing, “I’ll show you that I am”, which can easily register – on a subconscious level – as an arrogant challenge “I’ll show you!” to “that I AM”.)

The song’s energy is undeniable, but it’s important to consider its spiritual foundation to ensure that the energy affects us positively. My goal was to encourage my children to approach this new year and community with Christian confidence and enthusiasm, hoping they’ll listen to the song and together grow more excited and pumped up as we move closer and closer to our destination. However, after recognizing the secular nature of the song, I realized that my aim could easily become corrupted by something ungodly. For example, though the source of the singer’s armor is ambiguous, her reason for wearing armor is clear. She uses the armor as both deception and protection from the world. This ambiguous armor is what gives her the power to challenge the “I am”. Alternatively, I chose to follow the I AM by rooting the general armor reference from the chorus to The Armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

I concluded by reciting Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” Then, I reminded the children that Christ’s strength makes us truly Unstoppable. With this perspective, we listened to the song again and addressed our choice: to walk in uncertainty, anxiety, and fear of all future relationships or to embrace the power of God’s armor and follow the I AM with heavenly confidence toward the new opportunities before us.

“I put my armor on, show you how strong I am, I put my armor on, I’ll show you that I am, I’m unstoppable…”

Moments away from our destination, as we sang along to the chorus together, we affirmed that with Christ’s power, we are equipped and truly UNSTOPPABLE!