Confidence. It's something we all want more of but struggle to find and hold on to.
The problem is we often search for confidence, or assurance, in the wrong places. We feel more confident when we get lots of likes on our Instagram post or when we receive attention from that boy we like. The problem is these boosts of confidence are fleeting, they don’t last long. Confidence is being sure of something. When things change or fail us, we become confused, or unsure. I have realized that confusion is the opposite of confidence. The world we’re living in today is becoming more and more confusing. No wonder we struggle to find confidence.
Current culture encourages confidence in ourselves. It says, “You’ve got this —you don’t need anyone else!”
The funny thing about self-confidence is that it never comes from ourselves. We look to the world for assurance that we are loved and accepted. God wants us to look to Him for that assurance. True self-confidence comes from realizing we cannot do it ourselves, but that the Holy Spirit living inside us can.
While we tell ourselves “I can do it myself,” God’s Word tells us in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things ONLY through Christ who gives us strength. The challenges we face in life will break us and our confidence unless our confidence is rooted in Christ.
Anyone who knows me would likely describe me as a confident person, and in many ways I am. But I still find myself chasing these fleeting boosts of confidence and looking for assurance in the wrong places. I am a single woman under the age of 30, living in NW Iowa. As confident as I may seem, I still find myself questioning what’s wrong with me. Why am I not married like the others who are my age? In this pursuit of marriage, I have realized I need and want help in life. I desire someone to help with day-to-day tasks and to take care of me. This has helped me realize I need to surrender to God and look to him for help. This is exactly what God wants. He wants us to want Him more than anything else! He wants us to need Him. And in that, we find confidence that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
True self-confidence can only come from the Truth Himself. In John 14:6, Jesus calls himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If we believe what God says in His Word, we find confidence that we are created in His image (Genesis 1:27), that He knit us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), that we are his children (1 John 3:1-2). We find confidence that we will one day live eternally with Him and no longer experience mourning or pain (Revelation 21:3-4).
Confidence in our own ability can be shaken as soon as we experience something hard or we face a season of drought or pain. Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” To live in the world and place our confidence in things of this world is to live in fear and worry. To place our confidence in God is to live in freedom and bear fruit for His name!
All other forms of confidence can be broken down and leave us devastated, but confidence in our Creator, in our Father, in our Friend, and in our Savior will leave us feeling sure of who we were created to be and confident of our mission for Him! What is the source of your confidence?