The Right Kind of Confidence

By Jennifer Ash

"What's the worst thing that can happen to a quarterback? He loses his confidence."
--Terry Bradshaw

In an article entitled "The Power of Belief" from The Week, Ted De Hass writes, "At a self-help seminar in Rohrbach, Austria, participants were urged to walk over hot, fiery coals.  The purpose of the exercise was to "mobilize their energy reserves."  The course motto was, "If you can walk over hot coals, you can do anything."  The participants faced a 32 foot-long bed of embers.  Seven people who took the barefoot walk discovered something terrible.  Fiery coals can burn bare skin.   Hit with agonizing pain, they ended the walk with a trip to the hospital, where they were treated for severe burns to their feet."

In an age of self empowerment, quick fixes, and ever changing technology, there are a lot of things out there we tend to put our confidence and trust in; and though they may have the best intention, they can still be misleading. 1 Samuel 17: 38-39 is part of a well known story, but much overlooked passage.  The story is of David and Goliath, but the passage is where King Saul gave David his armor once he had decided he was going to go and fight the Philistine.

"Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic.  He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.  'I cannot go in these,' he said to Saul, 'because I am not used to them. ' So he took them off."

To anyone else, this would be the ultimate honor.  To not only be the hero and save a people from their enemy, but to do it all adorned in the king's special armor.  Saul had the best of intentions giving his armor to David.  He saw a young man eager to fight for his countrymen.  But he also saw a small boy, who would most likely not make it through the battle.

Saul probably didn't have any confidence in David's ability to fight, but he was most confident in his armors ability to protect.  However, David knew better.  David's confidence was not in the armor, in fact, it wasn't in himself either.  It was in God! David never hesitated knowing that God would take care of him.  He had no idea how the fight would turn out, but he never doubted who would be doing the battling.

People were not designed to be firewalkers; we were also not designed to put our trust in anything except God.  Sure, sometimes God uses things to help us.  At times we need full armor, and other times a small stone will do just fine.  But ultimately we must learn to put our trust and confidence in God and His faithfulness to provide for whatever we need.

Dear Lord, help us to have discernment, and give us knowledge in life. And God, lead us into Your cleft in times of trouble, Your rest in times of confusion, and Your unswerving joy through them all.

Jennifer is a full time minister of discipleship who enjoys writing and finding creative ways to connect people with God and His Word.  If you would like to comment on this article feel free to email writers@blessedlady.com.

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