It's time we stop being confident for The Lord

When I was 10 years old, I pitched for our 12u softball team. I was the only pitcher on the team so whether it was a good day or whether it was a bad day, you could find me on the mound. I will be the first to tell you, I wasn’t the best pitcher in the league. Every pitch I threw was extremely slow but none the less, right in the strike zone. My lack of speed made my pitches hard to hit. Every girl who stepped up to the plate was used to hard and fastballs being thrown their way. The speed at which the ball left my glove was almost laughable behind the plate and yet, always difficult to hit. 

There were a handful of games that didn’t go in my favor. Times where I walked person after person with tears of frustration running down my face. It’s these games that I can vividly remember my mom shouting from the stands, “be confident! You can do this!” At the moment, it didn’t feel like I could do it but sometimes, these words were exactly what I needed to hear to make it from one inning to the next. 

Reflecting on this story, I can’t help but wonder, where does confidence come from? In Philippians 2:24 the Apostle Paul makes a strange statement from his prison cell. In speaking with Timothy and Epaphroditus, he tells them, “and I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon…” When I read this by itself, I tend to think, “yes Paul, yes you will!” Until I remember the circumstances that he is in. 

He’s in prison, in a place he’s never been, preaching a gospel they’ve never heard. At this moment, Paul can’t be confident in his power and prestige. He can’t be confident in his talents, tenacity, and willingness to lead. The only thing he can be confident in, the only place he can store his hope, is in Christ. At this moment, He’s not being confident for The Lord, he’s choosing to be confident in The Lord. 

I’m sure, as you navigate this season, there are many moments that feel as if they’re not in your favor. Circumstances in which you’re walking through with tears of frustration running down your face. At the moment, it might not feel as if you’re going to make it but one inning to the next, I can assure you, you will. That being said, can you pocket this truth? You don’t have to be confident for God to be confident in Him. Our ability to make it through those innings has less to do with who we are and everything to do with who He is. He is strong, He is mighty, He is all-knowing, He is all-powerful, He is for you, and He is confident. So you, my friend, you can be confident in Him.