“Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.” Jeremiah 17:7 NLT

Learn to Trust God First

My wife Jeanni wrote a beautiful little praise chorus years ago before we started dating.  I remember the first time I heard her sing it. My heart melted.  Her beautiful chorus asked two pointed questions.  “How can I give to Jesus the way He gives to me? How can I give to Jesus when the greatest gift is He?”

I remember feelings of conviction as I thought about how much God had done to show me His great love.  God gave His Son for us. Jesus gave His life for us.  Jesus then gave us His life, His Spirit, His gifts, His blessings, our eternal inheritance and so much more.  We could never begin to out-give God and we are not supposed to be able to out-give Him. What we can and should do is respond to God by placing our trust in Him.

Trust is something that must grow in a relationship.  Trust deepens, it matures and as a result change occurs.  Jeremiah believed those who trust in the Lord made Him their hope.  When two people fall in love the trust that is built between them grows to the point that it allows them to entrust their futures to each other.  Jeremiah had apparently come to this same place in his relationship with the Lord. He had made the Lord his hope, but he did not stop there.  He also made the Lord his confidence.

Let Your Confidence Grow

So many people struggle with confidence.  Many feel they do not have anything to give.  We as a society spend millions upon millions of dollars per year trying to build our confidence.  Many people think, “If I could lose some weight”, “If I had a better job”, or “If I was a little smarter, then I would feel better about myself.”  Our efforts usually create very little lasting change in our overall confidence.

When our trust is in the Lord our confidence in Him grows.  Next, our own confidence begins to change, and soon we can begin to make Jesus our confidence.  With Jesus as our confidence we can give our faith to others and help them realize their own worth in Christ.  With Jesus as our confidence we can be the ambassadors for Christ He has called us to be in both word and deeds.

Pastor Jonathan