Dismayed and Afraid or Confident and Brave - I Samuel 17-18 and Luke 11:1-28
Some people go through life like Saul and the army of Israel, dismayed and afraid. Others are like David, confident and brave. What makes the difference? I am sure there are many factors, but these passages show us some of the main ones. Saul and the army had not been trusting God. They had been trusting their own strength. Therefore, they had not grown their faith to be able to handle a big challenge like Goliath. On top of that, they had been disobedient to what God had said to them. Their sin had caused them to be disoriented to God, too. The result was a weak faith that led them to be dismayed by the sight of the giant warrior and afraid to face him in battle. David was totally opposite. He had been trusting God as he kept the sheep. By God's grace he had killed a lion and a bear. These experiences showed David he could trust God, and they grew his faith. David's time spent with the Lord caused him to love the Lord so much that he could not stand to hear someone defy Him. The result was a confidence in the Lord and a bravery to face the opposition with just a sling and a stone. What is the giant you are facing now? What is your attitude? Do you realize the battle is the Lord's, and He can defeat any enemy? He wants you to come to know that by experience, so you can defeat any giants in your life.
Luke 11 has a lot to do with confidence, too. Prayer is a matter of trusting God to do His will. We must come into His presence with the confidence that He loves for us to pray, and He loves to answer our prayers. When we ask, seek, and knock, we need to have an attitude of confidence that God will hear us in His time and answer our prayer. We need to have confidence that God will give us what we need. We must trust that God can defeat Satan at any time. It is a matter of us having confidence in the Lord and then, being brave enough to stand up against Him. This comes from growing in our faith by learning to trust God in the small things first. That is what I urge all of us to do. God wants us to live in confidence and bravery, so let's trust Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Samuel 19-21 and Luke 11 :29-54.
Luke 11 has a lot to do with confidence, too. Prayer is a matter of trusting God to do His will. We must come into His presence with the confidence that He loves for us to pray, and He loves to answer our prayers. When we ask, seek, and knock, we need to have an attitude of confidence that God will hear us in His time and answer our prayer. We need to have confidence that God will give us what we need. We must trust that God can defeat Satan at any time. It is a matter of us having confidence in the Lord and then, being brave enough to stand up against Him. This comes from growing in our faith by learning to trust God in the small things first. That is what I urge all of us to do. God wants us to live in confidence and bravery, so let's trust Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Samuel 19-21 and Luke 11 :29-54.