Confidence

As I shared last week, I started a new devotional study. Last week it was about pride and this week it is about confidence. In a sense I am very confident, but then in another sense I am not. My confidence never wanes in the fact that I know the Lord is with me in everything and He has a purpose for every situation that I face. However, my confidence does at times wane in my ability to handle situations or respond to things that catch me off guard.

Today was my first day in the confidence lessons and God has already shown me some things. I am going to share some the things that stood out to me and how God spoke to me personally. First the highlights:

*Self confidence comes not from believing in yourself but from having faith in God.

*Confidence is only as good as the one in whom you place your confidence.

*We can try really hard to make our appearance just right, but if that is what our confidence is based on then it could be destroyed by a rainy day or bad breath.

*According to sociologists, our self-esteem is based on what we believe the most important person in our life thinks about us. Then our confidence wanes when we get disapproval from that person. God’s view of us is the only solid unchanging one.

In Judges 4&5 we meet Deborah who was an incredible example of confidence. She had complete faith in God and that became the strength of an army. She was confident because she listened to God, spoke His word, and pointed people to Him. She was not concerned about what others thought of this. She was decisive and not a people pleaser or a conformist. The Bible doesn’t give us any indication as to why God chose her. It must have been the she was usable, obedient, and faithful. God told her to go and she did. He told her to tell Barak to go and she did, she even went with him.

This challenged me to consider where He is telling me to go, which led me back to the quote above about people influencing your confidence. Over the last week I have been really seeking God’s guidance in a family situation. There is a family event this weekend that I was uncertain about attending. After reading this morning, I realized that God is telling me to step up and go. He is reminding me that I must be obedient like Deborah. No matter how small they make feel me He will make me big!