If there are areas of your life where you are not seeing victory, it’s time to stand up for your rights as a child of God. Jesus ultimately defeated our enemy on the cross, but we need to do the work of standing up for that victory every day. Here are 3 basic steps to evicting the enemy from your life.

As an adult, most seasons of hoping last longer than we would like them to. Can I get an amen? In that season of anticipation, hope can slip. Bit by bit, piece by piece, the enemy will strip it away until you are left heartsick. Our enemy defers our hope. He wears us down with small lies and big ones.

What if we could tell our stories not only when they're complete and neat and tied with a beautiful bow, but when we're in the middle of them? Imagine with me, a church where we model for each other how to survive the middle of the story and not just the end. I wish I'd had people around me who said hey, I have these wounds, and they still hurt, but God is here and He is good. To show me how to give testimony during the process.

Whatever problem is filling your vision - don't give it any power. Tell it about your faith. Speak out the truth, God's Word, and have complete confidence in it. If you're not sure what the truth is, ask someone you trust who can help you hear God's truth over the noise of your problem. When God reveals the truth to you, put your faith in it, in Him.

Whether it was a human mistake, an attack of the enemy, or the mysterious hand of God - you're here now, and any one of those causes should have the same effect. Hear this now, soak it in, because I know it with every fibre of my being. No matter what zapped that perfect plan you had, God's intention is to bring beauty from the broken.