There are many disillusioning things in this world, and the search for this or that leaves us thirsty time and again when it's not from God's well. Happiness, beauty, success, fame, things...all these fade with time. They begin real and strong, but get worn out by reality, as time reveals the weak stuff these things are made of. There's not enough there to sustain us.
I'm learning to draw strength and confidence from Him. Sure, I've already learned this lesson, but I need it again. I need it in new ways. Other sources of confidence -- success at work, in classwork, in athletics, in looks -- all these do deliver, but without any consistency or staying power. Their power is in the eye of the beholder; in other words, to gain confidence from achievements is contingent upon others noticing and saying something.
Being raised by a doting father, I will say I was trained early on to draw strength from his words of affirmation. As an adult now, I realize that I can no longer be dependent on parental onlookers. Dependence. That perfectly sums up the problem of getting confidence from any other source but Christ. I will be drawing too heavily on an undependable audience to appreciate my accolades. Not to mention that this approach to confidence-building breeds a stench of entitlement.
To turn over a new leaf with confidence, I turn again to my Source, my Redeemer. He can redeem anything about me that needs correction, encouragement, healing. Here are the top 10 thoughts I got from a word-search of "confidence" in Scripture:
1.) One's level of joy is bound up in where (in what) one places one's confidence. Those who have no confidence in the proud or in idols have joy and trust in the LORD. (paraphrase [pp] Psalm 40:4). We trust that help comes to us not from confidence in powerful people, but in confidence in the LORD (pp Ps. 146:3).
3.) Confidence is not about being confident in yourself or your own understanding. Confidence rightly placed can be sure, and still be slow to act. Be wary of being confident or hasty in your own course of action. Prudence is wise, cautious, and avoids danger; foolishness "plunge[s] ahead with reckless confidence" (Prov. 14:15).
4.) When we aren't confident, we lack strength. We're also probably tired. We're seeking hard for a source of steady strength (which is confidence itself). In times of restlessness and distance from God, our only strength will/can be found in quietness and confidence that the Lord has saved us, and is presently saving us (pp Isaiah 30:16). What we hope for, we believe will actually happen (Heb 11:1). This is confidence: assurance of salvation.
5.) Peace of mind, which stems from the righteousness God gives us, is perhaps synonymous with confidence (pp Isaiah 32:17). A feeling of righteousness (not earned, but given freely) emboldens us to approach God, fizzles out guilt, and increases our confidence that we will be saved on judgment day, because we already see His power in us to live like Jesus did here on this earth (see 1 John 3:21, 4:17). Confidence for the Christian is not placed in human effort, no matter how good you act and perform, but rather in relying on what Christ Jesus has done for us (pp Phil 3:3-4).
6.) The Lord himself, when we put our hope in Him, becomes the substance of our confidence (pp Jer. 17:7). Hope is coming, if it is not already here: we "hold to the hope that lies before us," which gives us great confidence in the here-and-now (Hebrews 6:18).
7.) We can be confident that the Lord is able to, and wants to, and will, save us from danger in our lives (pp 1 Cor 1:12). Moreover, having a feeling of confidence in our salvation will protect us, as a helmet (1 Thess 5:8).
8.) A sense of mental confidence can be derived from depending on God's grace rather than on our own human wisdom, and acting with sincerity and holiness in all our dealings, which clears our conscience (pp. 2 Cor 1:12)
9.) We are not born confident; rather, we gain it, from others' triumphs in faith, and from speaking God's truth without fear. That's right: you can outgrow your fears! (pp Phil. 1:14) Confidence can be gained by doing, too: when we embrace opportunities to lead in church, this increases our own confidence in our faith (pp 1 Tim. 3:13).
10.) Confidence can come from a sense of understanding of God's mysterious plan -- Christ himself, and how Christ resolved all that was lost and confused before -- which we arrive at with fellow Christians. (Colo. 2:2)
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