Confident

Confident.

Honestly, that’s the word that the Lord woke me up with one morning a little before 4 a.m.

Confident.

As I lay in my nice warm bed and tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep before my 5:45 alarm sounded, I could not get that word out of my spirit.

Confident.

I have to admit that most of the time I’m relatively confident in everyday life. For example, I can talk to two people as easily as I talk to two thousand. And I never meet a stranger. I just view everyone as a friend I haven’t been introduced to yet.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am very insecure in certain situations; I just hide it well.

Take a room full of beautiful Southern women. That’s super intimidating to me! Don’t laugh. It’s not funny. Honestly, all Southern women belong to a secret society of poise, beauty, etiquette, and manners, and the only reason I got to join their club in the first place was by virtue of my birthplace. In their midst, I have to hold tightly to my confidence because I feel like I just don’t belong. I feel as if I stick out like a pair of white linen pants on the morning after Labor Day.

Confident? Maybe not.

Seriously though, we all want to be confident. Don't we? No one wakes up and chooses to feel inadequate or insecure. Everyone desires confidence and strength, especially in the midst of tough times.

But how do we find confidence in trials and tribulations? Where is our confidence then?

The same place it’s always been ..: in Christ alone.

Psalm 27:1-3 states it this way,

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

The New Testament echoes and agrees in Philippians 1:6, 

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Confident? Yes, we can be confident!

No matter where life takes us or what the enemy throws our way, we can find our confidence in Him.

How is that possible?

Well, the Bible tells us that on the cross, Jesus forever defeated the only enemy we will ever face – in total and irrevocable victory.

Game over; debt paid; eternity won!

“It is finished."

And ... therein resides our confidence.

In case that's not enough, He also sent us an interesting message about how to pray confidently in our daily lives:

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us -- whatever we ask -- we know that we have what we asked of him (1 John 5:14-15, NIV).

To be honest, this passage always makes me giggle, not in a disrespectful way either. It just amazes me how unbelieving and downright silly we are as the children of God.

Think about it!

The God of the universe, our Savior and King, the One who created everything with mere words, is telling us in these two New Testament verses that we can confidently ask Him for anything and know full well that we will receive it –  as long as we ask in accordance to His will.

But knowing His will is the hard part, right? That's the kicker!

I honestly think that's only because we make it so hard. After all, He did leave us His will and testament in the form of His Holy Bible. And even beyond that, He sent His Holy Spirit to take up residence in us.

With those two powerful witnesses, His Word and His Spirit, we have the confidence to come boldly before His throne of grace and mercy with our scriptural, Spirit-directed requests. There, we can confidently know that He not only listens to us, but He also answers according to His Word which is forever settled in heaven. The very Word that He promises to honor above his precious, matchless name.

Wow! That is confidence to the highest degree.

And it is ours –  bought and paid for by the precious Lamb of God.

So, my brothers and sisters in Christ, let's be fully confident in Him as we prayerfully live in the places He sends us each and every day.