GODFIDENCE

          “You are fearfully and wonderfully made...”  “…For in the image of God made He man,” this is what God says about us.  This is what we are taught in the church, that God made each and every one of us in his own uniqueness.  But, when we look in the mirror we see any and everything except what God has said concerning us.  We initially see our exterior imperfections and blemishes.  If we look deeper we see our interior fears, doubts and short-comings; not the fearful or wonderful image of God.  Lord forbid that we begin to listen to the negative voice that speaks to us, that helps magnify what we don’t have enough of or what we have too much of.  The voice, which is oftentimes self, begins to point out that we are everything else, except what God says that we are. The voice that ultimately tells us we lack conFIDENCE in ourselves.  The voice that makes us start looking at other things, people or places for the conFIDENCE that it tells us we are lacking, instead of God.  

So we begin searching for this conFIDENCE, but this search begins to pull us farther and farther away from what God has said about us, and closer to what self thinks we should be.  Then we find it.  The things that God has spoken to us ceases to be heard, allowing our new found conFIDENCE in self, to begin speaking, telling us that we can change all those negative external and internal things that we see when we look in the mirror.  The conFIDENCE tells us that we should believe the world’s view of how we view ourselves.  The conFidence begins to teach us about self.  Self-confidence, Self-esteem, Self-respect, Self-love, Self-dependence.  We find ourselves no longer fearfully and wonderfully made but Self-made.  No longer are we dependent on God or the Word that has been spoken about us.  We become our own god, searching and seeking Self and in that search we become self-indulgent, self-righteous and self-fulfilled, which will ultimately lead to self-hatred and us being by our-self.  

God wants to turn that around for us.  He wants us to know that the conFIDENCE we search for is an illusion that is unattainable.  God says that He never intended for us to have conFIDENCE in ourselves but confidence in Him.  God wants us to have GODFIDENCE.  GODFIDENCE in the Word.  GODFIDENCE in what He says about us.  GODFIDENCE that He wants and desires what is best for us.  GODFIDENCE that He will take our external imperfections and blemishes along with our internal fears, doubts and short-comings and use them for His glory.  GODFIDENCE that we are fearfully and wonderfully made in His image.  GODFIDENCE in the love He has for each and every one of us.  Psalm 118:8 states, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man,” and this is true even if we are that man.  So today let’s not continue to listen to the conFIDENCE that speaks to us but let’s choose to hear, accept and believe in the GODFIDENCE that comes from the voice of God.