To be confident is to be assured that you can do something. The world is full of self-assured, confident people. They proclaim to be self-made people but even the unsaved are living by His grace. None of us created our own life. Only by His grace do we exist or have any ability. We tend to become self-confident because of what others tell us to boost our ego, or because of past achievements. While there may be many tasks we have conquered in the past, those past achievements should not make us confident in our own abilities. We need to step back and realize that God allowed those successes. We are nothing without Christ. So how should a Christian handle confidence? We need to anchor our confidence in the one who gives us the ability to succeed.
As Christians, we should be confident, but our confidence should not lie in our own abilities. In Philippians 4:13, Paul comes to a confident conclusion that he can do all things, but this confident attitude was not in his own abilities. It was in the ability of Christ. His task could and would be accomplished as Christ strengthened him. When he says “all things” he is not talking about vain and selfish desires. He is confident in achieving the things that God requires of him. This is not a declaration of self-reliance but confidence that if God requires him to do something, God will provide the strength to do it.
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.”
Paul was speaking from experience. He had endured many trials that, for most of us, would seem impossible, and they would have been for Paul if he had relied on his own strength and wisdom. We find in Acts 16:22-23 he endured beatings and a jail cell because he was a faithful witness. In Acts 14:19, he was stoned and left for dead. The entire 27th chapter of Acts gives us the account of Paul as a prisoner on a ship that was wrecked. In II Corinthians 11:28, Paul says that if the physical side of his sufferings were not enough, he also was perplexed and concerned about the welfare of the churches God had led him to establish. In II Corinthians chapter 11, Paul gives an account of his qualifications. He speaks of how he has labored for the Lord and the sufferings he has endured. He does not do this out of pride, but to honor God for how He has spared him and carried him through each trial.
Act 16:22-23 “And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:’”
Act 14:19” And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.”
II Corinthians 11:28 “Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.”
In II Timothy 1:12, Paul gives us the origin of his confidence. His confidence was in Jesus the one He was convinced was the Messiah, the one who had saved his soul and saw him through horrible circumstances. He was convinced Jesus was able to keep his soul until he reached Heaven. He was living for Christ and his confidence was in Him.
II Timothy 1:12 “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless, I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
In our world today there are all kinds of self-help classes. Programs to build our self-esteem and boost our ego. However, that is not biblical. God wants our confidence to be fully in Him. When we succeed, He gets the glory; when we live above our circumstances with joy in our hearts, others know why. When we choose to put Christ first in everything, He gives us the ability and the opportunity to overcome the doubts and fears that Satan throws our way.
We can live a confident, joyful life if our confidence is in the one who is in control. Things will not always turn out the way we think they should, but when our confidence is in Him, and we follow His commands, it will turn out the way He intended. He alone will get the glory. Our lives here are not about being the center of attention, but that our God can be exalted and glorified. We are to reflect Him, so that others may be saved.
