Tuesday Reflection, January 04, 2022

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.