After a string of hit songs from their first four albums including "You Decide," "Unbreakable," "For Those Who Wait," and "Stay Close," Fireflight released INNOVA, their first new album in over three years. The album is nominated for a We LOVE Christian Music Award for Electronic/Dance Music Album of the Year, with nominations as well for Group of the Year, Best Collaboration and Best Indie Artist/Group Of the Year (vote for them here).

INNOVA, the fifth full-length album from the group, was forged from a difficult and transitionary season for the band. Those experiences have fueled successful rock singles "Resuscitate" and "Safety" (featuring Anberlin's Stephen Christian). These songs show a musically reinvented Fireflight still focused on their core mission of hope and their connection with fans. There is a lot of infectious energy in these great new songs, including "We Are Alive," as they celebrate their new life as a band and how they are alive in Christ. I had the chance to speak with Dawn Michele about the upbeat single "Lightning."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

This is a really cool song for me personally. We communicate with our fans through Facebook, and they have written us messages ever since we started as a band. We get a lot of messages from people who are hurting and struggling, and a lot of them are struggling with their identity and feeling like they have a purpose and value. Every day we are talking about that with people. 

This song really addresses people of all ages who feel alone and marginalized and like an outcast. This song is the cry of my heart for people to know that they have so much value and so much power, not because they fit in or meet people's expectations, or they are cool, or whatever the world is telling them they need to be. God has created them incredibly already. They aren't just good enough, they are powerful, and they can make a difference. I feel like we spend so much time trying to be cool or good enough or meet expectations, that we run around, and the great tragedy of having low self-esteem and low self-worth isn't just that we feel so bad, but also the whole world suffers because we don't use the power that God has given us to reach out and love others as well.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Romans 8:11 (VOICE): If the Spirit of the One who resurrected Jesus from the dead lives inside of you, then you can be sure that He who raised Him will cast the light of life into your mortal bodies through the life-giving power of the Spirit residing in you.

Romans 12:2 (VOICE): "Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete."

John 1:12-13 (VOICE): But for all who did receive and trust in Him, He gave them the right to be reborn as children of God; He bestowed this birthright not by human power or initiative but by God's will.

1 Corinthians 3:7 (NKJV): So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

What is the takeaway message?

I had a little brother who passed away when I was young, and it was really hard on my family. I was just seven years old, and I didn't know how to translate it or know what was happening. Our whole family was so sad, and I took it upon myself to try to make my family happy, and I wanted to be happy. I did a lot of singing and dancing, and as I grew older I became a people-pleaser and maybe even a doormat. Later in life when I became a Christian, a lot of my weaknesses played into religion and making me feel like in order to be a good person you need to be kind, and I thought I was already doing that by giving people what they wanted. The end of that journey led me to a lot of emptiness. 

I refer to my old me as "doormat Dawn." The thing was since I let people walk all over me, they took advantage of me, and I wasn't myself. The real Dawn was sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool looking up through the murky water at the other me who was living my life. I became a slave to my fear of upsetting people and my fear of conflict. I had become a weak person. I couldn't help anybody really because I didn't believe in myself, and I couldn't empower people to be stronger and be their best selves. This song is also about me realizing my true value and who I was in Christ and who God made me to be in order for me to transform and be an empowering person. I also needed to find the lightning inside of me. This song delivers the message that we are conduits of God's power, capable of achieving things far greater than the meager attempts at power and control by mankind.

Lyrics:
You've been betrayed, you've been knocked down
Hurt by the way they've pushed you out
You were never made to fit the mold
Be a supernova and explode

You're born to light it up, with your electric love
You make them feel afraid, because you're dangerous
They'll never understand, cause you're a mystery
They can't contain your energy
Cause you are lightning

Now is the time don't be afraid 
To show the world you can be brave
You were never made to fit the mold
Be a supernova and explode

Make it bright
Make it bright
Bring the light
Bring the light
Break the night
Break the night

God's resurrection power from The Holy Spirit, that same power that defeated death and raised Jesus from the grave, is available to followers of Jesus. I love the Voice translation of Romans 8:11: "If the Spirit of the One who resurrected Jesus from the dead lives inside of you, then you can be sure that He who raised Him will cast the light of life into your mortal bodies through the life-giving power of the Spirit residing in you." We can all make the choice to ask The Holy Spirit to indwell us with His supernatural ability to overcome what the Enemy wants us to think about ourselves. 

That's what this song is all about. This song and this album is all about being confident in what God has given us and being grateful to Him. God knows what we need, and He loves and cares for each of us deeply. When you put yourself under a microscope and examine whether you really believe all of the words of this great song, you'll find that it will challenge your faith and how closely you are walking with God.  It's so easy to compare yourself to others and feel like God is blessing someone else with something that you want. We all need to learn that God has us exactly where we're supposed to be in this moment, even when we don't feel good enough. 

It's important as believers that others around us see the light of Jesus reflected in our lives in our words, actions, behaviors and even our thoughts. That's what Romans 12:2 and this album is about, the patterns that we align ourselves with. Are we conforming to the patterns or molds of the prince of this world? That's darkness. Our enemy seeks to destroy us with those patterns or molds. Or, are we praying for the renewing and transforming of our minds so that we can reflect the light of Jesus in our lives? Sing out, "Now is the time don't be afraid, to show the world you can be brave. You were never made to fit the mold, be a supernova and explode." Amen to that!

Watch the official lyric video below.