Confidence

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3: 5-6

A tour guide can make a not so interesting place sound so important even when it is not that interesting because they have acquired the qualities to do so. Well, what about when we have the Creator of the universe who knows everything in it’s entirety as our guide? Holding on and trusting in God with all our hearts and not leaning on our own understanding is real foundational faith.

Generally, good confidence is having strong belief or full assurance about one’s own abilities, correctness, successful feeling, being sure of yourself and your abilities, not in an arrogant way, but in a realistic, secure way.

God provides evidence of Himself and His trustworthiness before expecting us to believe in Him, to have faith and put our trust in Him.  He speaks, acts, delivers and reveals Himself and always provides evidence and then expects us to have faith. We have every good reason to trust Him, allowing God to be your guide begins with a commitment to trust.  God cannot lead us where we will not follow.  We have to grow our desire for His instruction and guidance and when we allow him to lead us, and then he will make our paths straight.  We must grow our desire for His instructions and guidance to be effective. 

He can lead us in and out of every circumstance by tugging on our spirits and speaking to our hearts.  With Him in charge we will be perfectly led.  He is the best guide because he knows all the turns ahead.  When travelling on a winding road with high mountains and low valleys with large deep lakes can be very scary because one mistake made can take you down and cause you to drown!  But with faith in God no matter how winding the path maybe we remain confident in Him because He does not make mistakes.  Our own natural understanding is insufficient, flawed and is limited, too, and our morals and desires may not be perfectly aligned with God’s, and can be a crutch that is weak.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9. The understanding we naturally have from our own hearts – our own minds, emotions, and wills – is simply faulty, deceitful, and untrustworthy. God’s understanding, however, is completely trustworthy, just like Him. It’s sure, solid, strong and stable.

Lord, please grant me clarity to discern your will and the courage to follow it even when it may seem unclear and difficult. 

Reflect:

What’s one thing you can do every day this year to remind you to depend on God?

Our God meets us where we are as we reach out to Him!