God is on our side. When our strength falters, His strength begins. Even though I know this in my heart, sometimes I still feel so weak. Especially when I have conversations with the enemy. The devil comes at us in many ways. Most of the time, we don’t even realize that it is him trying to stop us, make us doubt our Lord, and waste our precious time.

Lately, I have felt so tired. When I get to this level of exhaustion, I don’t want to do anything, but sleep. I struggle to think and to write. This morning, I wanted to sleep through my writing time. As my feet hit the floor, I thought, God I don’t even know what to write about this morning. But I wanted to put forth an effort. I have learned when we show up, willing to do God’s work, then God will show up and do His part.

It starts with me. I can’t just sit around and expect God to bless me abundantly. If I want more, then I have to be willing to do more. My heart desires to help other people. Therefore, I have to put forth an effort to help someone else. The words don’t just appear on my page. I have to get up at 5 a.m., read my Bible for inspiration, sit in silence, and ask God to help me. When I go through this process, then I usually have one little thought. I write the first sentence and sit and wait for the next one. Sometimes, when it happens slower than I’d like, I just want to quit and declare that I don’t have anything to write about. I have learned, however, if I will just sit quietly for a few more minutes, then the next thought will appear. It’s a beautiful process when I can just allow it to happen.

I am usually ready to quit, right before the next thought emerges though. Sometimes when I write something to help someone else and they tell me how much it helped them, then I am so grateful that I held on, and didn’t give up when I first wanted to quit. So often in our lives, we are close to breaking through when the resistance appears. The enemy wants to stop us. He will use whatever trick that he can come up with. When we feel like quitting, if we will just hold on a little longer, then God will bless us.

Regardless of what we are going through today, there is hope. Throughout my journey, I have found that the darkest time is usually right before the blessing appears. Even though the night may seem so dark and gloomy, there is a joy that comes with the morning light.

Psalm 30:5 (KJV)

5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Candida Sullivan is an award-winning author and inspirational speaker. She helps others to develop the mindset to overcome their circumstances. Her recent book, Despite Your Circumstances, won the 2016 CSPA Book of the Year Award in Christian Living. She lives in New Tazewell with her husband and kids. For more information about her books or to schedule her for your event, email her at candidasullivan@yahoo.com.