In our daily living we display many qualities which seem to be intrinsic to normal living. One of these qualities is CONFIDENCE. It refers to that full trust, belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing.
We go to bed in the night confident that day will break in the morning. We turn on the tap confident that water will flow; turn on the ignition of our car and trust that the car would start; drive over a bridge on the highway without any qualms; and switch on the light knowing that the room will be lighted. We have confidence in these and other things that they will perform just as they were originally designed to.
We also show confidence in people when we believe what they say, when we trust them to deliver on their promises or live up to the standards required of them.
When these people or things perform or live to our expectations, our confidence in them increases. The opposite is true if they don't.. Thus, it is possible that with time our confidence in certain people, structures, things, certain expectations or anticipations could dwindle to the lowest ebb or even be completely eroded. Conversely those people or things could have proved themselves so much that our confidence in them soars to astronomical heights.
Whether our confidence in people would increase or decrease usually depends on our judgment; our perception of what is actually taking place, viz-a-viz our expectations of that person or thing. If we think, judge, assume or conclude, in the light of what is happening, that the person or thing is not living up to our expectation or delivering on his promises, our confidence in that person, thing or system begins to wane. The fact, however, is that many times our analysis, assessment, perception, or judgment is wrong.. When there is a turn-around in the situation and our original expectation comes to pass, we are proved wrong. Then our human trait of fickleness comes to light and we are seen as being unstable.The ability to keep our judgment sound, our perception clear and our confidence solid depends on our opinion of that person's integrity. If we fully trust that person, no matter what happens, we firmly believe that things will turn out as expected. Between where we are and the realization of our expectation, the confident person will remain calm and unperturbed.
That was the quality King David displayed in Psalm 27: 13 "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (NIV)
Some scholars think that David composed this psalm when he was a fugitive fleeing from King Saul while others think it was when his own son Absalom staged a coup d'etat against him. No matter which of these it was, one thing is clear: David was in a very precarious situation. He talked about:
a. Evil men advancing against him to devour his flesh - vr. 2
b. Enemies attacking him- vr. 2
c. Being besieged by an army- vr. 3
d. War breaking out against him- vr. 3
e. Being surrounded by enemies- vr. 6
f. False witnesses rising up against him- vr. 12
If we were to go by the first proposition, we find a young man who had been anointed king of Israel by no less a prophet as Samuel. Yet after achieving what was a clear national victory for Israel, the odds turned against him. For about thirteen years David was on the run from Saul. David could have been exasperated and asked if the promised kingship was ever going to be fulfilled. Similarly, he could have despaired of his life and given in to the fear of Saul catching up with him and killing him- ending any thought of becoming king one day.
Despite all that was happening around him, circumstances that smacked of dashing all the divine promises he might be holding onto, David came out forcefully to declare: "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living". Surely David knew the God of Israel in whose name Samuel had anointed him king. He could rely on the integrity of God. He was convinced that no matter what happened, he would not be killed by Saul; he would not die. What God had promised him would come to pass and he would live to see it. He was still confident, no matter what!
Has God promised you anything? Are you holding on to something by faith? Have any unknown variables entered your life's equation so that the answers elude you? Are these things causing you to lose your confidence? Are you still maintaining your confidence? What level is it?
And so am I.
My personal tip: Losing your confidence in God's intervention of your situation does not make it any better; in fact it worsens it. Maintaining your confidence, on the other hand, does not cost you anything yet it benefits you greatly. You may lose many things in life but never your confidence.
