Bold confidence, this idea will bring a smile to many as they stick out their chest and push forward in life. They have been taught to believe in themselves and they are confident they have what it takes to succeed in life. That is the objective of our world. It is the teaching in schools, businesses, and families. They say, believe in yourself and you can do anything. When this has been taught to you from the time you could walk until adulthood it is no wonder that people have such a hard time depending on the Lord. Having our confidence in Him is counter-cultural. Satan has used this idea to muddy the waters in religion. He is happy when God is a part of our lives, but not the focus of our lives. He makes us think we are good Christians if we are good people. He is seeking to devour us one ego, one thought at a time. When we have full confidence in ourselves, He has nothing to worry about. We are on his path to destruction, and we don’t even realize it.
So where should my confidence lie? In Hebrews 13:6 we see that we can boldly say that the Lord is our helper. Our confidence is in Him and His ability, not our own. When our confidence is in Him, we will not fear what man can do. We serve the one who made man and He is capable of controlling circumstances to take care of me. In Psalm 118:6 the psalmist, who is believed to be David said, “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?” This writer’s confidence was in the Lord. David was often running for his life, as a youth he ran from Saul, as a King he ran from Jerusalem because his own son, Absolom, was seeking to seize the kingdom in II Samuel 15:1-15.
Hebrews 13:6 “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
When I think of confidence, I cannot help but think of Joshua. In Joshua chapter 1 we see God commissioning Joshua to take the leadership of His people. In Joshua 1:6 God says, “Be strong and of a good courage.” In verse 7 God says, “Only be thou strong and very courageous,” in Joshua 1:9 God is reassuring him. He commanded him to be the leader, and if he placed his confidence in Him there would be no need to fear, or to be discouraged because He will be with him. Joshua’s bold confidence was not in himself, it was in God. It was that inward confidence in God that would allow him to proceed with outward confidence and do all that God had commanded.
Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever you go.”
Another example of bold confidence was Paul. He was a very confident person serving God wherever he went after his salvation. He spoke before rulers and common people. He spoke before the Jewish leaders with no fear of what they could do to him. In II Corinthians 3:5 he helps us understand how he could push forward against great opposition without fear and full of confidence. He said, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.” Paul said this to guard against the idea that he was confident in himself or that he was boasting. He wanted everyone to know that it was his trust in God that allowed him to be bold. It was God working through him.
Since Paul was a Jewish leader before his salvation, I am sure he knew the Old Testament. He may have recalled Proverbs 3:25 “Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.” Proverbs is a book we can all gain much from. It is full of wisdom of what we should be and what we should not be. Proverbs 28:26 teaches us “He that trusts in his own heart is a fool.”
Just as Paul and Joshua trusted in God for their successes, we too must place our trust in God. If we are to serve God and make an impact on this world, we must not be self-confident, but God-confident. We must understand the rest of Hebrews 13:6 “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” He is our helper. He will sustain us. He will deliver us, and He will empower us to do His will. Paul understood our help must come from God or it is worthless. We may achieve greatness in men’s eyes but it is worthless in eternity. Our confidence in Him will allow us to say as Paul did in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Where is your confidence? Has God gifted you with great abilities, to the point you can do things without calling on the Lord for help? Does it make you feel good when people notice your abilities, or does it bother you when you are not recognized? If the answer to this last question is yes, then your confidence is in yourself not God. We must remember anything that is good about us is a gift from God. He made us, He sustains us, and He gives us our abilities. Put your confidence in Him alone and praise Him for all He has done for you and through you.
