Replacing Doubt with Confidence

Friends, it can be shattering when you are left with no idea of where to go and what to do. It represents despondency, hopelessness beyond anything you could have imagined. Psalm 57 was written by David as he fled from Saul and hid in the caves. It is a two-part song in which the King pleads with God to help him against Saul. Here David is anxious, vulnerable, and yet unashamed. The second part sees a more confident David deciding to trust in God, to exercise confidence in God’s ability to deliver him and to praise God even during his trials. From this Psalm we learn that the perspective we have will impact the results we receive. David cries out to God in today’s watchword, be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge. Psalm 57: 1.

David knew that he needed a refuge, a hiding place or better yet, a place of safety to wait out the calamities or the storms of his life. He knew that they would eventually pass, but he also knew that his well being at the end of it all depended on his ability to weather it out. He could keep running and Saul could keep chasing but eventually that pursuit would come to an end. What happened next would depend on how well David was able to weather the storm. He could allow his doubt to leave him cowering, forever running, and hiding. He could allow his situation to leave him steeped in negativity, applying this negative thinking to everything in his life as he moved forward. He could do that, or he could replace his doubt with confidence. Where though would he be able to find the confidence, he needed to face his unknown, his uncertainties, his tomorrows? Such confidence can be found only in God through Christ. David realized that as crafty as he was, that was not going to be enough and as swift as he was, it would not be fast enough. He recognized the wisdom and value of confidence that was based on his faith and not on his abilities. It was Joyce Meyers who said, ‘we don’t need self-confidence, we need God-confidence’. Thus, David appeals to God’s mercy. We are constantly in need of God’s mercy as we face the many challenges of life. When our strength is insufficient, God’s grace is more than enough. Like David we cry out to God for mercy because it is in God that our soul find refuge.

2022 has dawned on us. Its realities stare us in the face and often we can be overwhelmed, so much so, that we lose sight of our faith. Corona Virus does not seem to be going anywhere. Our bills are racking up. We are facing health issues, financial issues, domestic issues, and many other situations that seek to rob us of the confidence God gives us through faith. In all this we are reminded in Psalm 34: 8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. In a moment of doubt, we will begin to think that there is no help for us, that nothing we try will work and that we are doomed to fall. In faithful confidence however we will be reminded that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Such confidence is our constant reminder that we have a shelter from the storms of life, that we have a storehouse of unlimited resources from which we are constantly being supplied and that we are never alone for God has promised through the Beloved ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’. Indeed, friends today let us thank God for the confidence we have found in His presence and let us resolve to go through this year in confidence knowing that He that is with us is far greater than anything that may come against us. Let us walk confidently, for our Lord, our refuge, walks with us. Amen.

Monday Reflection – January 03, 2022 Beginning with God

You, O Lord, are in the midst of us,  and we are called by your name;  do not forsake us! Jeremiah 14:9

We have marched into a new year! To God be the glory! To have survived 2021 is sufficient to give God more than 10,000 praises. I witnessed so many illnesses and death in 2021; so many persons experienced unprecedented challenges. But we have made it, and all praise and glory belong to God. 2022 is before us, filled with opportunities yet with challenges. We march forward with God as leader and guide.

Jeremiah 14 captures a period in Judah’s history when they were afflicted by droughts. Sustained or multiple droughts were always a life-or-death issue in ancient societies where most made their living by farming. Drought was also a special issue for ancient Israel and Judah, because the often-worshipped Canaanite idol Baal was thought to be the god of weather and rain. Many ancient Israelites were drawn to Baal worship because they wanted rain. It was also thought that the Lord’s purpose in sending drought was to bring the nation to repentance. This led to confusion and despair by the people as they covered their heads. The Orientals cover their heads when in the deepest grief, as David did, when he went over the brook Kedron. Charles Spurgeon says that this means, ‘I cannot face it. Do not look on me in my sorrow, nor expect me to look on you. I cover my head, for it is all over with me.’

Fortunately, the people never stayed in this state of confusion and despair. They rose up and offered true repentance to God. It began with an utter confession of guilt and an appeal to pure mercy, not what they deserved. They were very aware that only the Lord’s mercy could save them. Having approached God with humility and repentance, they  appealed to God by reminding Him that He was Israel’s Hope and Savior, and asked Him not to be a stranger to them in their great need. In this appeal we find today’s Watchword, as the people reminded God that He was near to Israel, in their very midst, and that they did belong to Him. They called upon God to act upon that nearness and identification. These reasons should be sufficient for God not to forsake them.

We know not of what 2022 will bring, perhaps drought and famine, sickness and death, pain and sorrow, disappointments and heartaches. Whatever we may face, a good place to start and a great practice to exercise is to turn to God with humility and repentance; to recognize our state of sinfulness and plea for God’s mercy. As we embark on a new year, may we march forward knowing assuredly that God is always with us and invites us into a loving relationship with Him. May we remember that God will not abandon us. Let’s follow in His footsteps as we seek to become more like Christ and do His will.  

I leave you with the usual New Year thought that I have found ever renewing at the start of each new year: I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, “Give me a light so that I may walk safely into the unknown.” He replied, “Go your way and place your hand into the hand of God.  That will be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

Happy New Year everybody!

Jermaine Gibson