He will be my Confidence

Enjoyed having a cuppa and reading the first chapter of "A Heart Like His" by Rebecca Manley Pippert this morning. Also had a brief chat to one of my old high-school teachers who's apparently just retired.

There are some questions and reflections at the end of each chapter which I don't think I ever spent much time on before, but I'm looking at this time round as a few friends and I are reading the chapter together so we can talk about what God's teaching us through it.

Rebecca writes about David and Goliath, "As far as David was concerned, life's difficulties always present us with a choice. Do we trust in appearances or in the unseen living God? For David there was no contest, because he was convinced that beyond appearances lay the deeper reality of God." (p22) One of the questions at the end of the chapter is what things I fear that are of Goliath-sized proportion in my life.

I think one of my big fears is the future. I'm scared of what God has planned for my life. I'm not even sure why I'm scared of that. I guess it's the unknown. As someone who likes to plan and be prepared, it's difficult to trust God when He hasn't yet revealed what He would have me do in years to come... but looking back over life, I'm glad God didn't reveal too many steps ahead. Letting go and trusting God is the big challenge. I guess there's also the fear of the moulding process, of getting rid of all those parts of me that aren't like Jesus, of surrendering completely and letting God reshape me. Sometimes it really hurts!

Rebecca suggests finding seven verses about God's character to remind ourselves of who He is, and to consider our fear in light of these verses. So, here's my first verse:

Have no fear... for the LORD will be your confidence (Proverbs 3:25-26)


What does this tell me about God's character? He will be my confidence. This has nothing to do with my abilities... it's not dependent on me in any way. Rebecca put it well, "... it's God-confidence we need far more than self-confidence" (p19). Yep, that's what this verse implies. God-confidence. I need to stop worrying whether I'll be able to do what God calls me to do, and start remembering that whatever God calls me to do, He will be my confidence... so I don't need to be scared!