Confidence!

When I was a very young believer I was asked to give a testimony on our church’s radio broadcast. I flipped through the Bible and landed on Philippians 4:13. I thought, this is how I feel, so I read it:

I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace . (AMP)

I read the KJV, but here I wanted to illustrate just how arrogant I was- thinking, “oh I can handle anything now, I am ready for anything and equal to anything”. Remember, I was a babe in Christ – and had no idea what I was testifying to! It took many years for me to understand the enormity of the words in this scripture. There have been many failures, many set-backs, much fear, and too many times a feeling of wondering if I was going to make it through the day, let alone anything else!

According to the dictionary, confidence means to have trust and reliance on someone or something, including your own abilities.

As a novice, I felt I was up to the challenge, after all God had already done great and mighty things for me – there was never a doubt in my mind that He would withhold anything that I asked for. I certainly believed that I was “self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency”. Little did I know that the trials that come in this life test every bit of our core beliefs, and I confess there were times I fell short in my “confident peace:.

Yet, God in HIs mercy, never gave up on me. He was there, in the good and the bad; in the ups and the downs; in my striving, and in my failing. He proved to me over the years to be the All-‘Sufficient One. Gradually I gained confidence, not in what I believed, but what God said. HIs Word became an anchor for my soul, with it I gained “inner strength and confident peace:.

This week we’re going to look at the different kinds of confidence- for if there was ever a time we needed it, it is now.
Maria