I'M CONFIDENT OF THAT (part one)
In the Wed. night study we've been going over verses regarding boasting about tomorrow and making plans for tomorrow but things not going as planned. Sometimes we're too confident that things are going to go a certain way and are blindsided when they don't. Being overconfident can get us in trouble. But we can view the word confident or confidence in a purely negative light. We associate confidence with pride and arrogance, but that's not always the case. There are times where the word is used in a positive way in the bible. Let's take a look at some of those examples and see what we can take away from them.
1) What are you basing your confidence in?
When you look up the word confidence you see associations to words that we use all the time like belief, faith, trust. In this we can say we have confidence in the Lord. That's a sure confidence since there's no reason we shouldn't have confidence in the Lord. However, when we have confidence in people or something else, that can be a problem.
Another word associated with confidence is certainty. We can be certain about things that don't end up happening. "I was certain it wasn't going to rain so I didn't bring an umbrella. And I got soaked." The reason for our confidence was we trusted what the weather man said. The reason he said it wasn't going to rain was because he had confidence in the computer program or the radar system. It goes to show how people and things can be unreliable.
Sometimes we have confidence in ourselves. Is that wrong? Not necessarily. Self-confidence is the belief in our ability. If we believe we can do something it's usually because we've already done it before or we've done something similar that causes us to believe we can do it now. But sometimes that confidence is exaggerated. We are facing something beyond our ability but we're still confident we can do it.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to have the confidence to try something, but if we're overconfident, we could be setting ourselves up for embarrassment. Speaking of overconfidence, let's look at Sennacherib [sinakerib], king of Assyria.
2nd Chron. 32:1, "After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself."
When Hezekiah knew that Sennacherib was coming to make war, he talked with his officials and came up with a game plan. Once some things were in place, he encouraged the troops.
Vs. 6-8, "He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said."
No wonder the people gained confidence after a pep talk like that! Be strong and courageous! We've seen that before, right? Joshua needed to hear that when he was taking over for Moses. He needed the confidence to move forward as Israel's leader. The troops here needed to have confidence in the Lord's great power working for them, despite the vast army coming against them.
What do we need confidence to do today? What are you facing today that you need to be strong and courageous about? There is a greater power with you than the power that is against you! Worldly power is no match for the power of Jesus! It's a good thing the troops gained confidence because the opposition showed up to try to make things difficult.
Vs. 9-15, "Later, when Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah king of Judah and for all the people of Judah who were there: “This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: On what are you basing your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? When Hezekiah says, ‘The LORD our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,’ he is misleading you, to let you die of hunger and thirst.
Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god’s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it’? “Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand?
Who of all the gods of these nations that my fathers destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand? Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!”
Wow, talk about trying to get inside your head! "What are you basing your confidence in? I hope it's not God; because if it is, you're as good as dead. Other nations had gods too and they were no match for me so what makes you think your god will be any different? Don't let your king deceive you into thinking your god will rescue you."
When I see this I think of how Satan operates. How many times have you had confidence in the Lord about something and Satan was right there to try to take the wind out of your sails? The Holy Spirit moved you to step out in faith and you gained confidence that you could do it and then Satan whispered in your ear that you would fail if you tried and before you knew it you caved.
Satan's like, "don't be deceived, you'll never be able to pull this off; especially with your track record. So get those crazy notions of success out of your head." Satan loves to taunt us. Sennacherib liked to taunt God's people too. He wrote letters insulting the Lord and saying he wouldn't be able to deliver them. His officers spoke against the Lord and Hezekiah. They set out to terrify the people of Judah. Did it work? Did they lose their confidence in the Lord? Did the Lord come through?
Vs. 20-23, "King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword.
So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side. Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the LORD and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations."
Sennacherib's confidence was in himself and in his false god. Hezekiah's confidence was in the Lord and we see how things turned out. People can have confidence in anything. But if anyone thinks having confidence in worldly things supersedes having confidence in the Lord he's making a terrible mistake. Goliath made a terrible mistake when he was confident no one could beat him. David, whose confidence was in the Lord, put things in perspective.
1 Sam. 17:45-50, "David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.
Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him."
David had the confidence to do what no one else dared try. God had been preparing David by giving him the courage to go after the bears and lions that attacked his sheep. That courage would be a foundation for him being able to take on the nine foot tall, warrior since his youth, Goliath.
Not that no one else in Saul's army had courage, but they didn't have the confidence that David did. David couldn't stand the thought of someone defying God and he took action. Not because he was crazy, but because he was confident. I'm sure he was nervous heading onto the battle field but he wasn't going to back down.
David revealed the difference between what Goliath had confidence in vs. what he had confidence in. David knew his victory would be a testimony to the power of God. He hoped that people would be convinced of what God could do and gain a confidence in his mighty power.
We need to be convinced of this. David slew the giant because he had confidence in the Lord. Hezekiah and the troops defeated Sennacherib and the much larger Assyrian army because of their confidence in the Lord. God came through and did the impossible for them.
By the law of probability Judah should not have beaten Assyria that day. David should not have beaten Goliath that day. Maybe the odds are against us accomplishing what the Lord moves us to do. But having confidence in the Lord will accomplish the impossible.
What vast army are you up against? Is there a giant standing in front of you who seems larger than life? Do you feel like putting your sling back in your pocket and running away? Is the voice of the enemy getting inside your head? May these stories of victory renew your confidence in the Lord and the power inside you.
2) A heart of confidence.
Last week in the Reflections sermon I shared a couple of mirror photos. The first was a thin woman looking in the mirror and seeing a heavy woman. The thin woman was confident she was fat. Although that wasn't the reality, you wouldn't have been able to convince her of that. In her heart and mind the anorexic woman saw herself as something she wasn't. Her heart was deceiving her.
Jer. 17:5-10, "This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.“
But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.”
It's interesting-following the passage about having confidence in man vs. the Lord we have a message on the heart. It might seem like vs. 9-10 don't belong with vs. 5-8. Although it's possible to use these verses separate from each other, there is a connection.
The heart is deceitful-it can convince me I'm okay when I'm not and it can convince me I'm not okay when I am! In my heart I can be confident I need to do something when in fact it's the wrong decision. My heart can deceive me into believing something is a sure thing when it isn't. Sometimes my heart convinces me certain things are true when they're not.
In all of these things the common denominator is feelings. It feels right so it must be right. It feels real so it must be real. It feels true so it must be true. But as we well know, feelings can fluctuate. What we're convinced of one day can perform a 180 the next and now we're sure the opposite is true. Jeremiah wants to make sure we are putting no confidence in the flesh.
Paul said this in Phil. 3:3. He once had confidence in the religious things he used to do but it didn't accomplish anything spiritually like he thought it had. That's why he considered all that rubbish and a loss compared to knowing Christ, who showed him the reality and convinced him what godly confidence was all about.
The person who turns away from the Lord and has confidence in anything else will be like a wasteland. But the one who realizes their confidence is in the Lord will flourish. He won't be fearful or worried when times are tough because his confidence in the changing circumstances is in the unchanging Lord.
Our heart can convince us we're not okay during difficult times. We can be prone to fear and worry. But when our confidence is in the Lord we are lush and green in the Spirit despite the wasteland around us; we are still able to bear fruit despite the drought. The physical realities are not indicative of the spiritual realities.
That's where the other picture I showed last week comes in. It was a kitten looking in the mirror and seeing a lion. Physically, he's a kitten, but in his heart he's a lion. Physically, David was a teenaged shepherd, but in his heart he was a 10 foot tall giant warrior. Goliath saw a kitten and totally missed the lion. If you have the Holy Spirit then you have a lion inside you. Don't let your heart deceive you into thinking you're just a kitten. Be strong and courageous, you have the heart of the lion of Judah.
Our hearts can also deceive us by condemning us.
1st John 3:19-24, "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us."
Have you ever felt condemned after you became a Christian? Why does this happen? We struggle with sin or we lose the passion we once had and we're stuck in a rut. We conclude that we've fallen away and are condemned. But how we feel is not what is real. We might be in a danger zone, ongoing sin and apathy is not a good combination.
Although we might be heading down a slippery slope that doesn't make us condemned. But we're convinced we are because of how we feel. But God hasn't condemned us-our hearts have! But God is greater than our hearts! His truth is greater than our feelings. His truth is he will never leave us or forsake us; even though our hearts have convinced us that he has.
So what do we do? We need to fight the feelings of condemnation and cling to his truth. We need to earnestly seek God's face. Since God knows everything, he will break through my perception of reality and show me where I'm really at.
I've talked with people who felt they had lost their salvation-their hearts had condemned them based on certain factors. I tell them the very fact you're concerned about it means you haven't, for the one who truly has lost their salvation wouldn't care that they lost it. Their hearts have been hardened; they don't care about God or the things of God anymore.
But the fact that you do care shows that the Spirit of God is still in you-because he is convicting you of sin. Your heart is broken that you've been disobedient. Therefore, you have the opportunity to renew your strength and renew your hearts.
When our hearts does not condemn us, we'll have the confidence to approach God. A heart of condemnation wants to get away from God; he doesn't feel he can approach God. But the heart that isn't condemned knows that because of Jesus he can draw near to God with full assurance of faith.
Heb. 10:19-23, "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."
Having a heart of confidence enables us to draw near to God in full assurance because we have faith in Jesus who has accomplished salvation for us. His Spirit can cleanse our consciences of guilt; he can change our hearts of condemnation. We can hold onto the hope of eternal life because of the faithfulness of the one who promised it to us. We can be confident of that.
