CONFIDENCE
21st May 2025
A few days ago we were about to pray for a number of people going though life threatening crises. There was someone about to have serious surgery, there was another who had been rushed into hospital, and another battling cancer, as well as those going though hard life challenges. It is at these times that the weight of all this can rob you of peace and confidence in God.
As I pondered this an old song came to mind - it was written in the early days of Scripture in Song, pioneered by Dave and Dale Garrett. I am not sure who wrote the song, but here are the words -
“This is the confidence that we have in Him,
That if we ask anything according to His will
He hears us, and if we know He hears us
We know that we have the petition that we desired of Him.”
These words come straight from 1 John 5:14-15 and I just began singing this song to myself, and as I repeated the words something was happening inside of me. Faith was growing and my confidence levels were rising.
Confidence is a very fickle emotion, we see it in sport especially when someone who is very talented suddenly goes to pieces and loses, when the expectation was they would win.
I needed time to restore my confidence before I started praying, because repeating my fears and looking at the issues would not help me to pray in faith, declare God’s goodness and His ability to perform miracles and deliver in times of need. Luke 1:37 says, “For nothing is impossible with God.”
Hebrews 10:35-36 says, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.”
As we look at our world situation as well as the personal challenges in life we can become very discouraged. Joyce has been reading through the gospels with particular emphasis on the miracles of Jesus, the way He spoke with authority and the sick were healed and the dead raised.
This is the time to fix our eyes on Jesus, see our confidence rise, and faith increase.
by Charles Sibthorpe
