Trust Leads To Confidence
Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
Hebrews 10:35-36
I was tired, or so I thought I was. Summer was approaching and my mind was not focused on my writing. Instead, I was focused on what the summer was going to be like. The kids will be out of school, we have trips coming up, we get to go to the lake, we have daily outings to the neighborhood pool, the zoo, playdates with friends, all the fun summer activities were approaching, and I didn’t think I had time to devote to my writing.
I had never had this feeling before. I felt God calling me to take a month-long break from writing my weekly devotionals. The thought of taking a break scared me. I told myself I would disappoint my readers, my social media activity would go down drastically, and I did not need to stop while I had good momentum. I was looking at worldly effects of taking a break instead of on the spiritual reasons for taking a break. God had a reason, I just needed to trust Him.
Our trust in Jesus leads to confidence in what He is calling us to do. I wasn’t fully trusting that He was the leader of my writing ministry. I had taken the reigns and I was doing all the planning, writing every word, and calling the shots. A good friend reminded me that I must follow God in everything He says. I was following God by saying yes to writing about His Word and spreading His gospel, but I also had to follow Him when He told me stop and rest in Him. That stopped me in my tracks. I trusted God enough to step out in faith as I began my writing journey, but did I trust Him enough to take a break and see what He does with it?
The writer of Hebrews is telling us our confidence only comes from Jesus. Trusting in Jesus leads the way to our eternal reward. Our confidence does not come from our daily tasks, social media followers, accomplishments, relationships, financial comfort, or our social calendar. The confidence we have that gets us through each day is the confidence that we know Jesus will one day return and we will live in eternity with Him. Jesus gives us the confidence that allows us to put one foot in front of the other each day. All other confidence will one day disappoint.
We have a need of endurance to get us through each day and rely on our confidence in Jesus. This endurance also comes from Jesus. Just like He continually pushed me to take the month-long break, He speaks to each of us in different ways. How is He speaking to you today? Is He coming loud and clear through the radio, a friend, the same thought popping up in your mind, or has He made the answer so clear there is no way you can deny it?
I finally decided to follow God’s guidance and take a month off from writing. The next day, an email showed up in my inbox inviting me to participate in a Bible Study writing challenge. I knew in my heart God wanted me to accept the challenge and focus on a different writing style for the month. It was one of the best things I had done in quite some time. It expanded my writing and made me go deeper into God’s Word than I have lately. I also had the time to sit and do a short three-week Bible study on my own. I was able to grow closer to God during this time and God knew I needed that before I even knew.
When we place our confidence in Jesus and take our focus from worldly desires, our path seems clearer. The weeds and bushes growing into our path and crowding our lives, seem to be cut back and our path opens so we can see where we are going. Where in your life do you need confidence in Jesus and what He is doing?
It’s time we see confidence in a whole new way. We don’t need confidence that the world gives us, we need confidence that Jesus gives us. We need to trust what the Holy Spirit is telling us and have the confidence to step out in faith.
Digging Deeper:
Read the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. How do reading about the people of the past stepping out in faith encourage you to trust in what Jesus is doing?
How do you see your trust in Jesus giving you confidence in your daily life?
What area of your life do you need more confidence? Ask Jesus to help you trust in Him more so that you can establish that confidence.