I echoed Paul’s lament over the challenges of Christian living more times than I’d like to admit this past week as I found myself doing “the very thing I hate” instead of “what I want.”

Ugh. Sin. It ruins everything. It kills your joy and steals your peace. It wreaks havoc on your relationships and tarnishes your perspective. I totally understand why God hates it so much. I do, too.

And yet…

I find myself taking the bait and falling into the same traps over and over again. Especially when it comes to how I use my words. I commit to using them to speak life, not death, over those I love. But when conflict arises, I too often find myself trying to pick up and take back words that never should have fallen from my lips in the first place.

What I truly need in those moments is a divine hand to be placed over my mouth so I can be quiet and let the Holy Spirit blaze the path toward a peaceful resolution.

You see, God is very well aware of the temptation we face to respond to opposition with the desires of our flesh instead of the wisdom of the Spirit. Therefore, we are not called to fight every battle in our own strength, with our own resources, for our own agenda.

In Exodus, when the Egyptians were hot on the heels of the Israelites as they fled from slavery, Moses squelched the urge of his people to take matters into their own hands by reminding them: “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (14:14). Other versions say “you need only to be still.” Whether through silence or stillness, our job remains the same: surrender the fight to our great Defender and trust Him with the outcome.

The enemy wants you to believe that relinquishing your right to speak into a situation is counterproductive. He wants you to fret and worry that unless you “set the record straight,” your conflict will never reach a resolution. He wants to embolden you to take control of the situation because he knows that’s a sure-fire way for it to end in even more division and heartache.

But the Bible promises us that if we resist the enemy’s schemes, he will flee from us. He doesn’t have the final say in how we conduct our lives.

So, ask the Holy Spirit for protection and discernment. Pray for the wisdom to know when to speak and when to stay silent – for there are anointed times for both.

Then, be still, let the Lord fight for you, and watch as He leads you to victory.