I try to put my full confidence and trust in the Lord; but sometimes the battles seem so overwhelming that I struggle with it. I go to my prayer closet and pray fervently about a situation or a challenge, then, I leave the closet and before I can make it to the door, fear attacks me and I am thinking about the hows, and whens, and what ifs, and uncertainty sets in to my steps. It doesn’t take long for the empowerment to leave me. I am my greatest hindrance to walking in faith.

There, I admit that I am just about as normal a person as I can be. In my own flesh I can do nothing. I am meek and hesitant to stand up against the onslaught of the enemy when he comes in like a flood–but alas, I think about what the bible says, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). He already knows the plans that he has for us and the Lord is telling me that it is okay to be fearful, but if you are fearful, you don’t have to receive it because it is not of God.

Why would I allow Satan to overtake my life with fear, when I know that the Lord has already defeated the enemy? Yet, sometimes we do get weary in well-doing and we say or do things that are contrary to what we should be doing. Not terrible, awful things, but something that could be just as detrimental to our spiritual health: we lose our joy and confidence in the Lord.

Maybe he hasn’t answered a prayer for you, and you are discouraged because it seems that everyone on the planet has it so much better than you do. Doesn’t God even care about all of the sacrifices you have made? or the time or money you have invested in the ministry? We can allow the enemy to tangle us up in so much bitterness that it becomes anger. This day, I bind the spirit of fear and bitterness and release a Spirit of Thankfulness. I am a firm believer that if I learn to focus on being thankful, that it heals all of the times that I felt that I had nothing to be thankful for.

Breathing without assistance is such a blessing, but we take for granted the very breath the Lord allows for us to take. On the other hand, if you do need breathing assistance, you still can be thankful that there is the technology available that will help you to breathe.

No matter what circumstances you may find yourself in, during a season of life, finding something to be thankful for and proclaiming it will keep you in line with God’s purpose for your life, and it will also shield you from the attacks of the enemy.

Ecclesiastes 3

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

² A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

³ A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴ A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

⁵ A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶ A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

⁷ A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

⁸ A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

It is time that we take back the gift of God, the good of all our labour (Ecclesiastes 3:13).

In this week’s Lattereign, we learn how to keep Trusting in Quiet Confidence.