Certain in their uncertainty

Some people are really self-assured. They just seem to exude confidence. In some ways I admire this. Yet, in other ways, it makes me wonder. I wonder about the things on which their confidence is based. And I wonder if they have ample reason to be.

Confidence can be a tricky thing. It’s not always as it appears to be. I believe some people are truly confident. You can often tell when it’s genuine. They walk and present themselves in a manner that says, “I know what I’m doing. I’m on a mission and I’m going to bring certain realities to pass in my life.”

I believe, when I look at other people, that they are just projecting a false sense of themselves. They’re not really confident in themselves. However, they do want others to believe that they are. With these types of people it seems clear that they’re just putting on a dog and pony show. They don’t have the tools, or the foundation, for true confidence. However, they do want others to believe that they do. At the end of the day, their public persona seems to be of prime importance to them. I guess the thinking is, “Maybe I’m not really confident, but maybe I can fake it.” The reality is, though, that they’re only fooling themselves. Even if they do end up fooling everyone around them, it doesn’t matter. They’re not living in reality. The confidence they’re projecting can’t really produce positive outcomes in their life, because it’s just a decorative exterior. There’s nothing to base their confidence on. When the chips are down they fold like a cheap lawn chair. Often times, this is when you find out a person’s confidence isn’t real. Their life becomes a shambles.

A truly confident person can actually attain some positive outcomes. They can achieve much of what they set out to do because they believe they can do it. They have a degree of assurance that they have the skills to achieve their goals and dreams. And because of their confidence, they can also withstand some setbacks. They don’t fold under pressure. Or, if they do, it takes a significant amount of pressure to break them. So, true confidence can actually be of some value.

Of course, our confidence should be within reason. And there are limits to the degree to which we can be confident. We don’t know everything. Confidence can easily cross the line and become arrogance. This is something I want to avoid as much as false confidence. For one thing, it’s not attractive. For another, it can get you into just as much trouble as false confidence. Knowing our limits is also of immense value. We can get off into dangerous territory if we just head off and climb a mountain without the adequate skills to do so. Even when we are confident, it should be based in reality. Same goes for water skiing, snow skiing, skydiving, formula 1 racing, piloting helicopters, rocket science…….

…Let’s go deeper

As valuable as confidence is, there’s something bigger on which to base our confidence. My limits are often displayed at the outer extremes of my own abilities. At the end of the day, I shouldn’t be self-confident, I should be God-confident.

The great men of the Bible knew the value of placing their trust in God. However, not all the mighty men of faith started out this way. In the book of Judges an angel appeared unto Gideon. AV Judges 6:12: “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD [is] with thee, thou mighty man of valour.” The angel called him a “mighty man of valour.” If you read the verses following, some of Gideon’s statements wouldn’t reflect that of a confident person. God often sees things we don’t, though. The great thing is knowing that God believes the best in us, even when we have times of self-doubt.

AV Matthew 14:31: “And immediately Jesus stretched forth [his] hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Other times, however, we start out with great faith, but then falter somewhere along the way. This was the case with, Peter, one of the disciples. Jesus called him to step out of the boat and onto the water. I admire Peter’s faith here. Many times we want to fault Peter for doubting. But he had the courage to step out of the boat and onto the water while everyone else was still sitting in the boat. What this illustrates is Peter’s faith in Jesus. He started out well because he kept his eyes on Jesus. He only started to falter when he got his eyes off of Jesus and onto the circumstances of his surroundings. This is why the next verse is so important.
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AV John 15:7: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Jesus gave us this statement as an assurance of our firm standing when we are abiding in Him and His word. Knowing that we’re abiding in Him gives us confidence that we can receive things from Him. It also keeps us tapped into our true source of strength.

AV James 1:6: “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” Here it’s emphasized for us the importance of our faith. Faith is just really the confidence that we will receive the things we ask for from God. And we can have this assurance when we are abiding in Him and confident in God hearing our prayers.

AV Isaiah 41:10: “Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” I think this is important to add here. Sometimes we can easily allow our fears to overwhelm us. God has assured us, though, that we can keep our confidence in Him. We don’t need to fear, or get down, or sway from one way to the other, because He is there to back us up. This is why we can be God-confident.