307. WHERE’S YOUR CONFIDENCE AT?

(The Abundant Life Series – Batch 3)

Where’s your confidence at? What are you banking on to get you through this life? Your good looks? Your charm? Your intelligence? Your education? Your family association? Your background? Your boyfriend, fiance or spouse? Your political affiliations? The esteem of man? The money you have in your bank account? Your career? Your business? Your assets?

Where is your confidence at? Is it in your self and your abilities? Is it in your children? If not, where is it?

What I’m trying to find out is: Upon what or who are you relying, to get you through this land of woe? Some man? Some woman? Some deluded sense of your own intellectualism?

Whatever you have placed your confidence in, the Word of God has much to say to those who put their confidence in sources other than him.

For example, to those who have unwisely put their confidence in SOME MAN, WOMAN, ANIMAL, THING, INFLUENTIAL PERSON OR A GROUP OF PERSONS, it states:

“Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” (Isaiah 2:22)

“There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.” (Psalm 33:16-17)

“Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.” (Micah 7:5)

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” (Psalm 118:8)

“If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness…This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.” (Job 31-24-28)

Of those who have unwisely put their confidence in a GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM OR SOME INSTITUTION OR ASSOCIATION, the Word of God declares:

“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” (Psalm 146:3-4)

“Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!” (Isaiah 31:1)

For those who have unwisely decided to put their confidence in their RICHES OR ACQUIRING MONEY, the Word of God states:

“Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.” (Proverbs 23:5)

“He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.” (Proverbs 11:28)

“For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.”

“If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;If I rejoice because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much…This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.” (Job 31-24-28)

Finally, to those who have such an exalted view of self, that they have unwisely put their confidence in THEMSELVES, the Word of God states:

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

“He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.” (Proverbs 28:26)

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Romans 7:18)

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5)

“For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” (Philippians 3:3)

“…If…my mouth hath kissed my hand:This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.” (Job 31-24-28)

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.” (Proverbs 3:5-8)

All of these so-called ‘confidences’, earthly confidences are therefore revealed in the Word of God for what they really are: shams. They cannot sustain and they cannot succour, through all the twists and turns of life. No matter how promising, strong and reliable they look, they are all bound to disappoint at some point. For, they have not what it takes to withstand all the pressures of life and while they may seem to be of help, today, they cannot save.

Put not confidence therefore in your self (the flesh), money, any man, woman or earthly thing, system, group, institution or association (all of which can fail, cannot guarantee you safety and security and will be sure to disappoint you) but put your confidence in God.

The Word of God has much to say about those who, in wisdom, put their confidence in nothing else and no one else but IN GOD. They are wise because this confidence is not misplaced. For, God is a God that can be trusted in all the ups and downs of life and even in death.

The Word of God therefore states of Him and people who wisely put their confidence IN HIM:

“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” (Psalm 55:22)

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

“Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.” (Proverbs 23:25-26)

“Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” (Psalm 146:5)

“In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.” (Proverbs 14:26)

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.” (Hebrews 10:35)

“For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth.” (Psalm 71:5)

“Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” (Isaiah 26:4)

“Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” (Psalm 62:5)

“For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.” (Zechariah 2:5)

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.” (Psalm 27:1-3)

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.” (Psalm 46)

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” (Psalm 42:5)

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” (Psalm 56:3)

“For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.” (Psalm 44:6-8)

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” (Psalm 23)

(Written on 8th and 10th February, 2022)

Dear Reader, if you found the above Article to be interesting, informative, beneficial or edifying, you may also be interested in reading the following:

Note 82 -‘Trying To Be The Best You Can Is Not Is Not Enough – Jesus Is The Answer’
Note 95 – ‘Are You Too Puffed Up, Full Of Yourself Or Prideful?’
Note 98 – ‘Who Or What Are You Depending On?’
Note 102 – ‘Where’s Your Trust At?’
Note 200 – ‘The Paradoxical Principles To Successful Living – God’s Manual’
Note 201 – ‘Want To Be Rich? Read This!’
Note 206 – ‘Money Is Not The Driving Force In My Life’
Note 244 – ‘Are You Trying To Establish Your Own Righteousness?’
Note 276 – ‘Are You In Love With Money? People Who Loved Money To Their Detriment In The Bible’
Note 301 – ‘Born In Frailty, Died In Foolishness And Futility’
Note 304 – ‘Master Of Your Own Fate?’