Have you heard about confidence? You know, that super great feeling like you can do anything. Well, confidence is super great, but let’s explore this a bit more and see if we have the right grasp of the c-word.
In our personal faith walks, God works in, through, and around us as we grow closer to him. He does a tremendous amount such as placing opportunities before us and answering our prayers. Yet we can’t escape our role in the journey. We end up moving forward and undertaking important tasks for him. In fact, Ephesians 2:10 says God has crafted good works for every believer to do.
It’s precisely because we have a role that we need equipment for the task. Specifically, we need the right mindset—the right attitude—for striving toward what we sense God wants us to do. Otherwise, many things will hold us back. Laziness, confusion, fear of failure or humiliation, and lack of confidence will majorly hold us back from the works God has given us to do.
Let me introduce godly confidence to you. It’s an attitude, rooted in the character and promises of God, marked by knowledge of God’s presence and involvement as he helps us accomplish tasks that are good for us to do (be they biblical commands or our own goals).
Now that we know what it is, what is it not? It isn’t a feeling. Feelings are fickle and unreliable. Godly confidence isn’t arrogance or selfish ambition. It isn’t ultimately rooted in yourself. More on that later. Lastly, it isn’t a sense that something is guaranteed. You won’t always win; not everything you do will turn to gold. In fact, failure can be a great teacher. But this post is about giving you the fuel to identify your target and go for it, even if you do fail. It’s truly better to go for it and fail than to stay home wondering.
Godly confidence will add value to your walk with Christ in at least three ways.
Knowing God has equipped you
You’re a believer in Jesus Christ. Guess what? You’re equipped. Equipped with what? Well, you’ve got not only your natural gifts like event planning or baking (extra brownie points for that) but spiritual gifts too! See a list of them in Romans 12:6-7—service, mercy, leadership, and more. So that’s at least two entire sets of gifts for you to work with. Now this does imply taking some time to identify what your gifts are, so if you’ve never taken a spiritual gifts test or asked yourself, “If I could serve in my church, what would I like to do?” this is a great time to start.
You’re a believer in Jesus Christ. Guess what? You’re equipped.
So if you’re ever trying to figure all this out and feel like you can’t serve, can’t draw, can’t…fill in the blank, scratch out the n’t part and realize that you can do…something. Even if you don’t know what it is yet.
And in order to do that something, you have to know it’s possible. Godly confidence reminds you that God has equipped you and is present and involved with you.
Having a place
Have you ever felt out of place? Like you were just standing somewhere, fidgeting around uncomfortably, with no place of your own? Maybe you realized you have the gift of teaching, but your church doesn’t seem to be looking for new teachers right now. Or you want to help the children’s ministry, but you just missed the application deadline.
In God’s economy, you always have a place.
With godly confidence, you can stand amongst others and contribute, whether in the church or anywhere else in life. Speaking of the church, here’s where you can (and must) use your spiritual gifts. In fact, if your church doesn’t welcome you using your spiritual gifts in positive and healthy ways, make some noise about it. If they won’t listen, find a new church. You need a place where you can do good work for God.
Godly confidence gives you the assurance to go through these steps and find your place. Otherwise, you might feel like you’re a problem or that you should just accept whatever has been placed before you. But you don’t have to feel this way.
As the years pass on, you may find yourself evaluating your personal walk with Christ. You might ask questions like, “Is the current way I’m serving the Lord still good?” or “Do I need to find a new place?” Only you and God can answer these questions. Others can give you wisdom and advice, but you must ultimately decide for yourself where you will go for the Lord. Sometimes God will push things along for you, but other times you’ll need to trust the Lord and step out. Godly confidence helps in these times because there is a place for you, somewhere. It will help you get started and then settle into it.
Fulfilling your personal mission
Every believer has a mission. Let’s personalize this. You have a mission. There are at least two aspects to this mission. One, all believers are on this earth to please God, enjoy him, and shepherd others into his kingdom. But the focus of this post is the second aspect: the way you in particular will accomplish these things.
You have a sphere of influence. You have natural and spiritual gifts—endowed by God. You even have specific desires and dreams relating to God. Side note: make sure you’re giving yourself a chance to develop these ideas!
If your goals are the motivation, godly confidence will help fuel you at specific points when you’re taking on new ventures or you’re at a crossroads. It will remind you that it’s possible and worth it, as the God of heaven is very likely laying the groundwork for you.
It’s not just about you
To get going on all this, what do you need? Well, many things, but one of those things is without a doubt confidence. Confidence gives you a sure step, a way to handle setbacks, awkward moments, and times when things just don’t seem to be lining up.
But we should set some limits here. This isn’t confidence rooted in yourself, as if you alone have all the answers. It’s confidence in who God is, which proceeds into confidence in how he has equipped you, and finally, confidence in yourself as an agent of God’s work. It all flows from God and goes back to him.
What you’re really after is motivation to undertake new ventures, to work fervently, and to chase after good things as you progress in your walk with Christ. Godly confidence—the right attitude—will be a big help for you.