God confidence

Many years ago I accepted a position as site manager at a Bible camp. The former manager had been employed there for many years. All I heard from everyone was that I had “big shoes to fill.”
However, it went beyond words. It seemed like whatever I did, it wasn’t like the former. I continued to hear, “That’s not the way James would do it.”
To be transparent and honest, I lost all my confidence and saw all my insecurities manifest. I kept at it, but it took me months to overcome what I had been feeling.
Some of us may have a similar story, struggling with lack of confidence and insecurities. Just know that we have a God that will take us through our storm.
Israel was facing their own storm. Once again they fell back to their evil ways. So God put them under the domination of Midian who overpowered and overwhelmed the Israelites. Their strength forced the Israelites to make forts in caves so they could hide from the Midianites. Through all this domination, the Israelites were brought to poverty and some to starvation.
Then God sent an angel to speak with one of His prophets, Gideon.  We’ll pick up the story in Judges 6:12-13: The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”
“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”
I wonder if Gideon was thinking the angel was speaking with the wrong guy. It’s not hard to see that Gideon is lacking confidence and feeling insecure with all the destruction surrounding him.
Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family.”  Judges 6:14-15.
God knew Gideon could do what He was asking. However, Gideon thought of himself as a nobody. He was focused on his own insecurities and not focused on God.
The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”  Judges 6:16.
We may think God is giving Gideon the self-confidence he needed to go and fight against the odds.  However, that’s what we want to think. God’s assurance to Gideon was not to build up his self-confidence; it was to assure him that He was with him. Gideon did not need more self-confidence; he needed more God-confidence.
That’s the same with each of us; we don’t need more self-confidence, we need more God-confidence. With Gideon’s God-confidence, he won the battle.
We all have the ability to choose confidence, even though we may be fearful in doing so. Don’t listen to your fears because fear is a liar. The end to insecurity and all the lies it produces in our own minds ends with our Lord Jesus Christ!
Next time you feel insecure and need confidence, look to God and use His confidence!