Our Confidence Must be in Christ
At some critical point in life we are all failures. You do not win every game. You may “ace” every test in school and fail in life. In fact, there will be many failures along the way. Our enemy keeps track of every stumble and as our accuser, he will remind us. He releases flights of burning arrows of accusation that cause us great pain. These are much more than distractions. They can be debilitating.
Show me one of our biblical heroes who did not know the attacks of our enemy. Jesus prevailed against those blistering, fiery arrows. He stands alone. He overcame on the Mount of Temptation and in the Garden of Gethsemane. Throughout His earthly life, He was tempted in all points as we are and did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15). There is no one like Him.
Hebrews 11 contains that wonderful Hall of Fame which is a tribute to the faith of God’s saints. They did much by faith. Some we barely read about in the Bible, but others occupy great portions of Scripture. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon and David are all listed as living by faith. There are others unknown to us but well known to God who accomplished much by faith.
Take heart dear people! Our confidence is not in our talent or ability. Every time we place confidence in ourselves we are as Noah after the flood, Abraham down in Egypt, Jacob on a normal day and Moses striking the rock in the wilderness. We are like Gideon before his army was reduced in size or Samson before he knew that the Spirit of God had departed from him.
David at Ziklag learned a lesson. When everyone spoke of stoning him, he “encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” (1 Samuel 30:6). That stands as example to all of us.
We may fail but that doesn’t make us a failure. We may sin. We are sinners. Yet in Christ Jesus we are “not condemned.” (Romans 8:1). We are knocked down in Romans 7 but we stand upright in Romans 8. There is no condemnation in Christ and there is no separation from Christ. Our confidence is not in our performance. Our confidence is in Him and His promise. David learned that, and so must we.
Writing in Philippians 1:6, Paul set forth the basis of our confidence. “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” I take heart in that wonderful promise. Christ began this work and He will see me through. He began and He will complete it. My confidence is in Him and not in my own abilities. This is how the Christian life is to be lived. We live our lives confident in Him.
The accuser will continue to release his burning arrows. Life is tough and will get tougher. There is a promise, but a promise is only as sure as the one who makes it. Our Lord Jesus is our surety. He signed our note at Calvary. He finishes what He starts.
Our confidence is in Christ.
