But I Have No Confidence!
“And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
“For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.”
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.”
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
That’s okay.
Wait…aren’t you supposed to tell me I need more confidence in myself?
Nope, you don’t need it, Christian creative! In fact, confidence in oneself can lead easily to pride if not kept in proper check. While there is a certain measure of confidence in your craft and skill that is good, the originator and foundation of that confidence should not be yourself.
Who originated your talents and abilities? Who is in control of the race you are running? Who is it that you are doing good work for? The answer is, of course, God, the King of Heaven.
The good and very best thing about this is that God is ultimate, infinite, and steadfast. It is far better and more secure to put your confidence in Him — who gave you your talents and abilities — than it is to put it in yourself.
Now, this is not to say that you should look at your talents and abilities and go “nope, it’s all worthless and I can’t do anything.” That is too much of an extreme the other way! You still have those talents and abilities and the understanding that God is with you.
The trick is learning to take up a posture of humility. Acknowledge both that without God’s provision, you would not have your talents, abilities, or projects, and that He has given you this task, knowing full well your limitations, but entrusting it to you anyway. With this, you can strike a balance between confidence in yourself — you are pretty cool, praise God! — and confidence that the Lord has given you everything you need to pursue your task on this Earth!
Have confidence in the decisions that God has made about how He created you. Trust that He knows what He has set in front of you to do. He does not make mistakes and He does not lead us down useless trails!
Putting it into Action: where is your confidence? Do you feel confident in yourself, in your abilities or talents? Do you feel confident in God and what He has provided for you? Read over the Bible verses mentioned in this blog post and assess where your confidence is and where it can be improved or placed.
