Joy in Confidence
In the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children shall always have a place of refuge. Reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death (Proverbs 14:26-27 AMP).
Although creativity abounds in many areas of my life, it has eluded me in the kitchen other than the humming bird and morning glory stenciling on the walls and the lighthouse on the door. When I hold cooking utensils in my hands rather than a paintbrush, the room craves creativity.
The first several times we invited guests for dinner, I burst into tears from the stress of trying to achieve the seemingly unachievable. Howbeit, I had a redeemer.
With pots, pans, and gas grills at his disposal, my husband’s creativity excels. Early in our marriage, I had to ask for his assistance. However, he truly has a servant’s heart and finds great satisfaction in creating “masterpiece” meals for friends and family. Now, I tease him about allowing him to do all the cooking because I don’t want to interfere with his ministry.
The best part, I no longer have to stress over hungry company. I have confidence not in my own cooking, but in the resident chef, I happen to call my husband.
Confidence in our own skills propels us to achieve. Well-grounded confidence in someone else’s ability to take control of situations in which we lack competence allows us to relax and enjoy our surroundings. Robust confidence in God eliminates anxiety, fear, and bitterness despite our circumstances.
The Gibeonites in Joshua chapter 9 lacked confidence in their own army, knowing that the Israelites had massacred every city that stood in their way. (Don’t think the Gibeon army was weak. Joshua 10 reports that ADONI-ZEDEK king of Jerusalem feared greatly when he heard that Gibeon made peace with Joshua because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty [verse 2]). Instead of preparing for battle, the Gibeon leaders dressed in rags, packed moldy bread, and journeyed three days to the Hebrew camp, where they claimed to be ambassadors from a far country seeking a peace treaty. Without consulting God, Joshua agreed to let them live, and the assembly’s leaders swore to them (Joshua 9:14 AMP).
Three days later, the Israelites heard that the strangers were their neighbors and traveled to Gibeon to confront them. Although the Gibeonites deceived Joshua, they received mercy from him even after he discovered the truth. Rather than destroying them, Joshua then made them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, to this day, in the place which He should choose (Joshua 9:27 AMP).
As the Gibeonites came to Joshua, we come to Jesus in filthy rags, fearful of our inevitable destruction if we do not make peace with Him. For we have all become like one who is unclean [ceremonially, like a leper], and all our righteousness (our best deeds of rightness and justice) is like filthy rags or a polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away [far from God’s favor, hurrying us toward destruction] (Isaiah 64:6 AMP). Nevertheless, it is impossible to fool God as the Gibeonites had fooled Joshua. God knows all about us before we come to Him. Yet, He offers mercy to all who will ask. Not only that, He fashions a ministry for us to serve His people. For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live] (Ephesians 2:10 AMP).
Early in his life, self-confidence dominated Paul. He relied on his education and prestige, wrote his own agenda, and followed a self-imposed path. He persecuted Christians everywhere he went thinking he was doing God a service. However, he learned that all his accomplishments were as filthy rags to God. Blinded on the road to Damascus, Paul had no choice but to surrender to the Father’s will and live according to God’s plan for him.
Many Christians today are as zealous in their service to God as Paul had been before his Damascus experience. And like Paul, God’s true will for their service blinds their vision. When we attempt to alter the gospel to make it more appealing or eliminate the need for repentance, we express human-confidence rather than God-confidence. When we strive to earn salvation through good works, we rely on self-confidence rather than God’s plan. When we seek vengeance through our own merit, we break the trust we are to place in God. All these endeavors indicate that we are full of our own righteousness and not the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is the only righteousness God recognizes.
Admitting that we lack the potential to save ourselves, to make our own way to heaven may be to most difficult task we’ll ever face. Many of us are so self-assured that we cannot imagine that we lack God’s favor. Like Paul, we make our own goals, then wonder why we stumble. Unfortunately, we back ourselves into an undesirable dark hole from which only God can retrieve us. Not all trials or illnesses are results from disobedience as Paul’s blindness was, but God uses such devices to get our attention and to turn our focus on Jesus Christ.
After his conversion, Paul experienced many the same calamities the early Christians faced, as well as many of today’s Christians in foreign countries. Yet, he remained sure of one thing–God is faithful (reliable, trustworthy, and therefore ever true to His promise, and He can be depended on); by Him you were called into companionship and participation with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9 AMP). This confidence in God gave Paul the joy and strength he needed to endure all the hardships the enemy could hurtle at him.
Through Jesus Christ, we, too, can cultivate an attitude of joy and retain our strength in spite of our present circumstances. Looking back at the beginning of Philippians chapter two, we discover a key that unlocks the hidden treasure of the joy we find in God-confidence: if we have been encourage through our unity with Christ, if His love is comforting to us, if we find satisfaction, tenderness, and compassion in our fellowship with the Holy Spirit, then our oneness in spirit and purpose with other believers should prove our love for Jesus and for each other. We will shed our self-righteousness and cloak ourselves in Jesus’ righteousness, which puts other people's needs ahead of our own.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for being the One I can rely on. Knowing that Your promises are true and just, I can rest assured that everything in life will work out for my good, and in turn, You enable me to work for the good of others. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.