Today’s catch phrase is:

Lead with confidence.

Confidence in ministry is essential. There are two kinds of confidences that we can adopt, but only one is given by God and a useful tool in ministry. I can’t seem to write about this topic without hearing lyrics from The Sound of Music…and there’s this part in that movie that has always made me cringe…

Can’t you hear Maria singing?

“So, let them bring on all their problems!
I’ll do better than my best.
I have confidence they’ll put me to the test,
But I’ll make them see I have confidence in me.

I have confidence in confidence alone…..”

And then reality strikes and she whimpers as she comes to the gate and gets her first glimpse of the mansion that houses the captain and his seven children:

“Oh help!”

But then she regains her composure and resumes her song, possibly less enthusiastic than before:

“I have confidence in confidence alone,
Besides which you see I have confidence in me!”

Well, as we all know, confidence in confidence is, um, nothing, and her “confidence in me” was quickly put to the test and did not prove to be substantial.

God promises a different kind of confidence to His children- a confidence that is grounded in Who He is, and Who we are in Christ. God recalls in Isaiah 30:15 {with remorse} the offer He had given that was refused:

“For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.”

Too often we push away the confidence that is found in Christ and reach for our own confidence- confidence in me. Or it’s a confidence we draw based on others’ opinions or approval.

God wants to bless us with HIS confidence- a quiet, sure-footed and humbly graceful presence about us that exudes the joy we have found in knowing exactly how God wants us to serve Him, and doing it with assurance.

This is a confidence that does not involve looking around at others or even inwardly at ourselves. Because that’s when pride takes over and true, God-given confidence starts to fade.

Through dependence on God, it is a joyful reality to live by grace and be able to

Lead with confidence.

Let’s Chat: Have you discovered the joy and freedom of leading with confidence that comes from God?  How is it manifested in your practical ministry?