“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  Hebrews‬ 4:14-16‬ NIV‬‬‬‬

I have struggled with confidence in myself for most of my life.  I often feel not good enough, not talented enough or not worthy to achieve a task or lead people.  Even so, I have been in leadership and public life since I was 19. Through this journey, I continue to learn, relearn and learn again that the only one in all the universe that I must please and find my confidence is in the Lord.  Many of us know that is often easier said than done.  

If we will really consider the message of the words in Hebrews 4 and come to a place where, we can rest in the facts, any of us can travel on the road of an increasing life confidence centered completely in Jesus Christ.  

If what we believe about Jesus is indeed true, and I am fully convinced that it is, we have everything we need to have confidence in this life.  The fact for this life comes, if we can approach the throne of God with confidence because of the work Christ, then we can approach all points of life with that confidence.  

I heard a story about a famous brain surgeon walking in the park one day.  He witnessed a boy on a motor scooter run into a tree and was badly injured.  

The famous brain surgeon immediately began to administer first aid and asked someone to call for an ambulance.  As the crowd began to gather, another young boy began to make his way through to the one who was injured.  

He got to the brain surgeon and said, “Sir, I’ll take over from here, I’m a Boy Scout and I know first aid!”  

We could look at that and say this was naivety or arrogance, but this boy scout was confident in who he was as a scout and the training he had been given for a time such as this.  

This is true for you.  

You can be confident today in who you are in Jesus Christ, and for what He has done to give you that confidence.  

This is not arrogance or stupidity, it is a confidence that what Christ has done, He has done and that His work is complete in us, even though we are not yet fully protected.  When our lives are sourced in the confidence that God has in us through Christ, what else is there for us to claim.  

I challenge you to really give the Lord a chance to give you the gift of His confidence in you and use you in ways you never thought possible.  

To Thrive in 2020, you need confidence, not in the economy or the government or in yourself, but in what Christ has done for you, in you and that He loves you.  

The Lord is more concerned about where you are headed than where you have been.  That is Good News!        

 

Rev. Brad McKenzie is Lead Pastor at Orange First Church of the Nazarene, 3810 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, in Orange.