The truth is we all have something simmering under the surface of our lives that we fear bringing into the light. We create clever shelves and cupboards deep within the kitchen of our soul, places that aren’t meant for light, closets where we stash our secret and unspoken hope. But deep within our own thoughts, we long to go to that place and sit before that which we adore, and wait patiently for it to restore us, calm us or simply take us away for a time. It is in these secret and cleverly camouflaged recesses of life that loom our deepest strongholds. If you ever wondered why you feel a wall between you and Jesus or simply stifled in your walk with Him, it is here you must dig. A lifetime of unsatisfied desires and suitcases full of frustrated hopes have built a garrison around that which bewitches us, so it is brow-sweating, side-wrenching work to root it out. For some it is money, for others it is pleasure, and for many it is control. Or, as the Bible declares “some trust in chariots…”