When we remain silent in the face of sin, we allow the enemy to build strongholds in our lives.

On Friday, October, 13 I had the amazing opportunity to speak and share my testimony with around 190-200 6th-12th grade students at a Christian school. And when I say it was amazing, I mean it. I was nervous. This was the first time I've spoken in front of a big group of people and for a quiet, introverted individual, 10 people is a lot so, to stand up in front of 100 plus people, I was nervous, to say the least.

I am not one to enjoy having everyone's attention on me, that's actually like my worst fear, being front and center with all eyes on me and yet I had such peace. I had a peace come over me that's hard to explain. It could only have been the peace of God that washed over me, the peace we hear so many times throughout scripture. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 says, "Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way." I felt that peace that morning as I was standing in front of those students.

As I've had time to reflect and think about that day, as I'm sure many of you can attest to, there were things that I wish I would have said differently or said this and not that. However, I am giving myself grace because this really was the first I've ever done any sort of speaking engagement and I am also choosing to trust that while I might not have said some of the things I wanted to, God still used what I had to say.

That someone in the room needed to hear what I had to say. That someone needed to be reminded who they are in Christ.

While my main reason for speaking was to share my testimony and how the Lord has brought me healing and freedom from my abortion, I also talked about the power our silence has.

When we remain silent in the face of sin, we allow the enemy to build strongholds in our lives.

The sins we keep hidden allow the enemy to build strongholds and those strongholds can be hard to break down.

The Bible tells us to confess our sins, why? because when we keep our sins hidden when we remain silent, it allows the enemy a foot in the door. And what happens when he gets a foot in the door, he gets his knee in, then his hip, then his shoulder, and pretty soon you're face to face with the enemy, in a situation you never would have thought.

You're wondering to yourself, how did this happen?

You allowed the enemy a foot in the door and when we do that, he takes more than what we were wanting to give him.

Some harsh truth...

We have to be careful in our walk with the Lord. It can be easy to become tangled up in sin, into a situation that you never would have wanted.

The Bible tells us to pick up our cross daily and follow him (Matthew 16:24). It's a daily choice we have to make because our fight against the enemy isn't just on Mondays, it's every day.

My encouragement to you as it was to those students is to not stay hidden in your sin, to not stay silent. Proverbs 28:13 says, "Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

Hebrews 4:13 says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." Now I am no theologian but the Lord is all-knowing (omniscient), all-powerful (omnipotent), and all-present (omnipresence). I'd suggest doing your own research or asking your pastor to explain these further.

The Lord already knows of your sin, so why confess? It's less about confessing so that God knows, it's confessing so that you know that what you did was sinful. It's acknowledging the wrong and taking responsibility. I wonder how things might have turned out if Adam and Eve had taken responsibility in the garden... Later on in verse 16, were told, "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

We're told to confess our sins so that we may receive grace and mercy.

One day each and every one of us will have to give an account of our lives and everything we've done, good or bad, to God. And only the blood of Christ can cover us. Only the blood of Christ will allow us to spend eternity in heaven.

If you wait until you're standing in front of Christ to confess your sins, it's too late. Hiding our sin does us no good. Staying silent only allows the enemy to bring death to your doorstep.

Don't allow the enemy to build strongholds in your life! Come to the Lord in confession and repentance and He will be quick to forgive (1 John 1:9).