Rock Star Confidence For The Believer

Joshua Crawford

Have you ever met a very successful person, someone that is a leader in their chosen field, like an accomplished business person, decorated athlete, or even a rock star?  It’s understandable and reasonable, based on their resume, when these individuals are the most confident person in any given room.  Wouldn’t you love to exude the confidence of Bill Gates, Lebron James, or Jon Bon Jovi?  Fortunate for Christians, the Bible says an even greater confidence is readily available to all those who trust in God.   

In Jeremiah 26, the Lord tells the prophet Jeremiah to stand in the middle of the temple and proclaim a hard message of repentance.  Of course, this isn’t taken very well by the temple leaders and gets Jeremiah face to face with a death sentence.  To all this the prophet says, “But as for me, behold, I am in your hands.  Do with me as seems good and right to you…for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.” (vv. 14, 15)  In the face of execution, Jeremiah, knowing his calling was from God, was the most confident man in the room.

In Acts 16, we find the Apostle Paul, along with his friend Silas, in similar trouble in Macedonia.  For sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul and Silas were stripped and beaten with rods and thrown into prison.  At midnight, there was a great earthquake which loosened the prisoner’s chains and opened the cell doors.  When the Roman guard discovers this, fearful of disappointing his bosses, he makes a move to kill himself, but Paul intervenes and shouts, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” (16:28)  Confident of his mission and purpose for the Lord, Paul is bold enough to stay imprisoned by those set on harming him.  Even more, his confidence in God converts the jailer’s whole household to the Christian faith!

In John 18, we find Jesus himself was fueled by this confidence in God.  When Judas’ torch-bearing, weapon-carrying mob came for him on that fearful night in Gethsemane, Jesus was far and away the most confident man in that garden, despite facing death.  Look at this confidence:  “Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’  They answered him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’  Jesus said to them, ‘I am he.’  Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.  When Jesus said to them, ‘I am he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.’” (vv. 4-6)   Jesus, rooted and grounded in God’s will for his life, went out to meet the blood-thirsty mob.  Literally, no one could stand against his confidence.

How can we have this type of confidence, even in the face of death?  The Bible seems to say it’s about trust.  1 Peter 2:23 says Jesus endured crucifixion because he, “continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly”and I believe Jeremiah and Paul were doing the same in their trials.  God himself, back in the book of Jeremiah said, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” (17:7)   True confidence, as the Bible describes it, isn’t confidence in your resume or accomplishments; it’s not even confidence in your jumping ability or Grammy-winning singing voice.

True confidence is found when we trust solely in God.  When we understand that the source of confidence comes from God and not ourselves, we can become the most confident person in the room.