God Confidence

Vol 2 No 14 THEO'S DEVOS 041008

TITLE: God Confidence

Hebrews 6:18-19 So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence.
19This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain of heaven into God’s inner sanctuary.

Once again we see a verse that challenges modern psychology. Time and again we are told, as we grow up, to have self-confidence and yet, deep inside, we often lack it. I strongly believe that having self-confidence is a setup. Have you ever trusted someone and had them let you down? I bet you have. Well it is possible to trust oneself so much that we set out too far and rely on our own resources only to find that they just aren't there and we fail. Time and again, however, the Bible encourages us to have God confidence. To believe that He is caring for us and will guide us no matter what the circumstance of life is.

So what is the difference between God confidence and self-confidence. I believe the answer is clear. To have God confidence is to, first of all to be in prayer to Him about all the things of your life. It is to find yourself in the scriptures, looking for those principles of life that will lead you along the right path. It is then to test the thing you are concerned about and decide if it is something that will further God's influence in your life. If it is, then the right thing to do is to go for it and let God guide you every step of the way. We can have confidence to know that He will never lead us in the wrong direction and will always correct ouir path if we head in the wrong one.

Self confidence is not a bad thing on the surface, but if we replace it with God confidence we can be sure that a much more powerful force is entering our life and one that knows what tomorrow will bring. You see all the self-confidence in the world can never know what is coming around the corner while God does. It may feel the same, self and God confidence, but true concern for what God wants in our life, and earnestly acting on that desire will clearly differentiate between the two and you will find a true confidence well up from the inside and one thing will clearly dissipate. The one element that will slip away when you are acting on God confidence is fear. When you are following God's lead there is no fear. When you follow your own design there will always be uncertainty.

Theo