I shared about self-confidence in the last devotional. The focus of today’s devotional is Godly confidence.
Godly confidence is sacrificial and has humility associated with it. David and Paul are two examples of individuals with Godly confidence.
But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” 1Samuel 17:34-37
David approached the king with humility to ask him for the permission to fight Goliath. He wasn’t there trying to take anyone’s position. He wasn’t looking to bring attention to Himself. He didn’t criticize the armies of God for being too weak to fight Goliath. He was just passionate to defend God’s work, and He was confident that this giant wasn’t going to defeat the armies of God. David knew His God would not put up with being defeated with an uncircumcised philistine. He was confident in His God, and His focus was on the Lord not on himself.
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. Jeremiah 17:7
The Lord is the main focus of a Godly confident person. We don’t assume just because we care about something, it should be important to God. When we have Godly confidence, we care about the Father’s business just as Jesus was.
Godly confidence stems from knowing God’s character well. We have deep trust and confidence that God is with us, and He will give us what we need for the challenge or the assignment.
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidencein the flesh— Philippians 3:3
Paul was a man who used to be self-confident, and he saw the bitter fruit of it. Prior to meeting Jesus, he was a capable and zealous person, but his zeal was misdirected. When finally Paul came to his senses by meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, he realized how wrong he was and how deeply he had hurt the people of God!
Paul’s conversion became a demarcation point in his life. He no longer was confident in the flesh. His natural confidence crumbled under the truth of the gospel and God’s unconditional love. Paul became a different man and was transformed into a humble, gentle, and sacrificial man. Instead of trying to take the lives of others, he was willing to give it all up in order to see people saved.
Do you have Godly confidence? Are you about the Father’s business? Ask the Lord to show you where your confidence stems from.
