Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. Jer 17:7 NIV  

A Woman After God’s Own Heart | Trading Self Confidence for God Confidence

A few years ago, the Lord began stirring a longing in me to cultivate a heart like King David in the Bible. At the time, I was serving on the P31 Ministries Online Bible Study team. Whenever I needed guidance, my Coach was my go to person. And every time we came up against a difficult situation, her response was always: “God is up to something. We just can’t see it yet.”

Her gentle spirit and quiet confidence in God was beautiful to me and helped me to refocus and find rest in Him even when I didn’t have any answers. I remember telling God many times that I wanted her steadfast, unwavering confidence in Him for myself!

Isn’t this what we all need right about now?

The past few years have been unsettling, to say the least. Many of us (myself included) have endured the loss of loved ones while others are still searching the horizon for their prodigal child to return home. Many more have yet to recover from a dibilitating illness or the devastating loss of much needed family income.

In the midst of it all, attempting to muster up confidence in our own strength will only serve to drain us even more. The only way to steady our souls and take back our focus is to lock eyes with the only One Who is immovable: Jesus Himself!

The dictionary defines confidence as: the feeling or belief that one can rely on something; firm trust.

Some synonyms of the word confidence are: trust, belief, faith, credence, conviction, reliance, dependence.

It’s hard to confidently navigate the facts of life when we don’t firmly place our trust in the Lord. The self confident Girl tries to gird herself in her own strength when faced with the challenges in her life. This has been me quite often! But the God confident Girl girds herself in the Lord’s strength by remembering His Truth no matter the challenges that come her way. This is the Girl I want to be! How about you?

Let’s meet God in His Word to see both in play.

Today, we’ll travel back to the Old Testament and spend a little time with David to learn why God called him a man after His own heart. One of the qualities that distinguished David in God’s eyes was where he placed his confidence. David placed his complete and full confidence in his God and not in himself. 

If you have a few minutes, please read the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. (If you don’t have time, that’s perfectly ok. I will summarize the main points here.) Note how the Israelite army processed the situation in their own strength and how it made them feel. Then notice the perspective that David brought into this same situation.  

Here’s the setting of the story …

As the chapter opens, we find the Philistine and Israelite armies encamped on opposite mountains with the valley of Elah between them. Verse 4 introduces Goliath, a Philistine giant who stood almost 10 feet tall. His bronze coat of scale armor weighed about 125 pounds and the iron point on his spear weighed about 15 pounds. 

For forty days, Goliath came forward every morning and evening, shouting and defying the ranks of Israel. I imagine his shouts must have echoed off those mountains. Goliath laid down the rules for battle by challenging one man to come down and fight him to determine who would serve who (vv 8-9). Then verse 11 tells us “On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified” (NIV).

Are you facing something right now that feels like a Goliath? A situation or circumstance that is causing you dismay or terror?

Sister, I am praying for you as I write this. We aren’t alone, my friend. In fact, we have Someone Who’s ready to do battle for us.

Exodus 14:14 promises us this: “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (NIV).

Every battle belongs to the Lord, and He gets to call the shots, not the enemy! Whenever the enemy provokes me, I need to remind myself, the amount of time I spend in that slippery downward spiral isn’t dependent on me fighting in my own strength. It solely depends on how quickly I remember to cry out to my Jesus, the One who fights for me!

Back to our story in 1 Samuel 17 …

Despair overwhelmed the Israelites that day in the valley of Elah because the facts were stacked against them and, like me so many times, they forgot who was fighting for them.

Then David arrived on the scene. Too young to be in the army at that point, his father sent him with reinforcements for the troops (v 17). David reached the camp just as the army was taking its battle positions, shouting the war cry (v 20). David saw Goliath and heard his threats for the first time (vv 23-24) and saw how the Israelite army fled in fear because of those words.

The story crescendos here. In the midst of this daunting situation, David’s words reveal his unwavering confidence in God alone! He knew the battle belonged to the Lord so he didn’t waste one minute measuring Goliath’s strength against his own. And this steadfast confidence in God fueled David’s boldness.

In verse 26 David asked: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”(NIV)

David was so conscious of his immoveable God that the sight of Goliath didn’t move him …

Next, we witness David come up against three more hindrances that might have taken a self confident person down. But the young shepherd boy, girded in God confidence, prevailed all three times:

1. David Focused on God’s Honor and Not His Own Feelings: David’s intentions were misunderstood and he was publicly rebuked by his eldest brother, Eliab (vv 28-30). I can imagine the laughter that Eliab’s mocking words might have invoked in the ranks. We don’t know if Eliab’s behavior hurt David, but verse 30 tells us David turned away. He refocused.

This convicted me! Recently, I almost let someone’s unkind behavior derail me from keeping in step with the Spirit to focus on and complete an important God assignment on time. David’s example reminds me to focus on God’s honor, not my own feelings.

• Takeaway: The self confident Girl might feel the need to defend herself and her own honor. The God confident Girl sticks close to Jesus and is growing in her understanding that her reputation, dignity, honor and her very life rests in His very capable hands. 

2. David Focused on God’s Strength, Not His Age and Abilities: Saul tells David that he is too young to fight Goliath, who had been a warrior since his youth (vv 33-37). David responded by remembering God’s faithfulness in the past, when He rescued his father’s sheep from both a lion and a bear. David had no doubt that His Heavenly Father would protect and defend the Israelites, His people and His sheep, against Goliath.

Remembering came easy for David because he was in the habit of delighting in the Lord’s goodness and strength. How do we know this? Because many of the psalms David wrote reveal how he delighted in God’s strength and His promises! David also wrote 2 Samuel 22, a incredibly beautiful chapter to meditate on if you would like to begin cultivating a sweet delight in God and His strength.  

• Takeaway: The self confident Girl might see the lion, bear and Goliath as ever increasing obstacles to deal with. The God confident Girl is able to see the lion, bear and Goliath as ever increasing opportunities for God to show up strong for her in her life!

3. David Let God Teach Him How to Fight, Not Man: King Saul tried to prepare David for battle by dressing him in his own tunic and armor. But David did not allow this because he wasn’t used to it (vv 38-39). God Himself taught David how to fight as a young shepherd boy and David was faithful to follow his Commander’s battle strategy.

This is something we all need to remember: All of our battles and every one of our victories belong to the LORD, every single time. If we can remember and hold tight to this truth, it will strengthen our hearts and embolden our faith the next time we come face to face with our own giant!

• Takeaway: Our King shares His battle strategy with us, too! God doesn’t expect us to toughen up. Instead He gives us the weapons we need to guard our hearts and minds daily! We find God’s armor in Ephesians 6:10-18. Praying on the armor builds our faith and strengthens our confidence in the Lord. We offer a helpful resource to guide you with intentionally praying on His armor: Praying on the Full Armor of GOD

David Defeats Goliath …

After removing Saul’s armor, David picked up his staff, sling and five smooth stones and quickly approached Goliath. These were the only weapons he took to fight the heavily armored and protected giant. To the natural eye, the odds seemed stacked in Goliath’s favor once again. But David didn’t see it that way because his confidence was not in himself or his sling!

David tells Goliath: “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (v 45 NIV).

We find a wonderful name of God here. For 40 days and nights, the giant had challenged the men to a one on one battle. Here, David made it known that Goliath was indeed in a one on One battle, but not with David. Goliath’s battle was between him and the LORD Himself!

You may or may not know how this battle ended. Verse 49 announces the magnificent end to the battle. The stone sank into Goliath’s forehead and the giant fell face down on the ground!

For years, I considered David the hero in this story. But, now I know that giving credit to David won’t help me when I find myself in the middle of a battle. When I remember God won the battle for David and His people, then I know God can be my confidence when it’s my turn to face the giant, too! I’m sure David would want us to delight in our God as the only hero here. When Goliath hit the ground, he fell face down before almighty God, not David!

As His Daughters, we’re also soldiers in the army of our living God, just as David was! We contend with a very persistent enemy, but we don’t need to lose heart. The very same God that showed up strong for David wants to fight our battles for us today! And, while we wait for His sure victory, let’s follow David’s example to hold on to His peace by:

1. Turning away from conflict and refocusing our hearts and minds on the Lord.
2. Delighting in the Lord’s strength by meditating on His Word in His presence.
3. Putting on the full armor of God everyday and taking our stand in His strength.
4. Refusing to take credit for our victories. The credit belongs to the Lord alone!
5. Cultivating the habit of remembering what God has done for us in the past.

You, My Friend, Are a Woman After God’s Own Heart …

I don’t know the distress you’re enduring in this season. Perhaps you’re like me, waiting on unanswered prayers for so long while things seem to be moving in the wrong direction. I pray you will let Jesus lift your chin so He can look into your eyes.

It’s in His eyes and His presence we’re able to refocus and find the rest we so desperately need. In this place, we can more easily set aside our need to have all the answers right now. We can trust there is no darkness too dark nor brokenness too broken that Jesus can’t suddenly turn it all around in His timing and for His own glory! Will you believe this with me today?

Remember in 1 Samuel 17:11 when the Israelites were dismayed and terrified by Goliath? One of my favorite Bible Verses is Isaiah 41:10, in which God addresses this very thing:

• “So do not fear, for I Am with you; do not be dismayed, for I Am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (NIV).

Check out what God says in the very next verse: “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish” Isaiah 41:11 (NIV).

We truly have nothing to fear with God by our side! Take a few minutes to sit with these verses and let His words soak deep down into your soul.

God never meant for you to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and carry the weight of the world on your delicate shoulders. Don’t lose heart if you’re not feeling strong today and don’t despise your weaknesses. The God confident Girl knows that God is delighted in her when she delights herself in His strength and not her own. God is good at being God, and we honor Him when we let Him define His role in our stories. Let’s begin to delight in His strength and steward our weaknesses to provide Him lots of room to show up strong for us!

I will leave you with this one last verse to encourage you today:

• “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Cor 12:9 NIV).

Let’s fan the flames of hope and remind each other to lay the full weight of our confidence and trust in Christ alone. It’s not over until Jesus says it’s over, amen? In whatever situation you may find yourself in today, remember: “God is up to something. We just can’t see it yet!”

Live Loved my Friend,

A Woman After God’s Own Heart: Trading Self Confidence for God Confidence @ freshgracefortoday.com

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