Confidence for God-Sized Dreams
It takes determination to accomplish the impossible. Determination comes from confidence. But what happens when you lose your confidence, or perhaps never have it to begin with?
We’ve all been there. We start off strong as we set out to accomplish a God-sized dream or perhaps a small but important task, then we begin to lose strength. We get tired and start to wonder if we are running the right race or dreaming the right dream. We question our ability to make it happen. And we should.
It is not in our own strength, know-how or name that we make the impossible possible.
It is in God.
Gideon questioned God’s presence and his providence. God questioned Gideon, “do I not send you?” (Judges 6:14)
Recently, God has put a dream in my heart. Like Gideon, I question my ability, God’s timing, and his sending. But God’s response to Gideon reminds me that it is not who I am that matters, but who God is.
Let’s look at three simple truths about confidence from the passage in Judges 6:13-16.
Confidence is not in your past circumstances.
And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” Judges 6:13
Like Gideon, I question God. “If you want me to start a new chapter in my life, then why didn’t you prepare me for this moment?” Like many women, I am a jack of all trades and expert of none. I wonder if I am up for the task.
It’s hard to look back and make sense of how God is going to take the past and use it for our future. It is easy to see what we’ve missed out on or how we’ve messed up. But one thing is for certain, our past teaches us how much we need God.
God doesn’t want us to be defined by our past, but dependent on Him.
Confidence takes courage.
And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” Judges 6:13-15
Gideon knew he was not up for the task. Notice in the scripture passage that God responded to him “Go in this might of yours…; do I not send you?” before Gideon spoke in fear. God sent Gideon despite his weakness and his position.
Regardless of where you are or who you are, be courageous, God is with you. He is greater than your past. He is greater than the present. He has gone ahead of you to prepare the way for your future.
Confidence is not in you – it is in God.
And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” Judges 6:16
How many times has someone told you, “you can do it”, yet you are not convinced? The way you see it, there is no way you can make it happen. There is little hope that you will be successful. Gideon was uncertain in God’s call. He needed a reminder that he can do it, because God was with him.
God is with you too.
God is looking for humble hearts that place their confidence in Him. Gideon was not at first confident in God’s calling, but he was committed to follow him.
Gideon allowed God to use him, regardless of his past or his position. He trusted in God’s presence as he courageously said yes to God’s call. He made some mistakes along the way, but his confidence was in knowing that God was with him.