Freedom of Religion, Not Freedom from Religion!
October 18, 2024
What It Means to Have Confidence
July 26, 2021
Our world is filled with uncertainty, and in the midst of wars, struggles, disease, and disasters, it’s natural to wonder, “What is going on, and where is it all headed?”
As you think about the future, does it fill you with fear?
Or can you say, "I have confidence in the future"?
The truth is confidence might not be the first word you use when talking about the future. You might think it more a matter of hope. But what does hope mean?
In the New Testament, the word “hope” is used in a different way than what you might think. When we use the word, it’s often with a sense of “maybe.” We look at it as something that is ambiguous, that we’re not sure about.
But that’s not the biblical meaning of the word.
A synonym for the word “hope” in the New Testament is the word “confident.” So, if you see the word “hope” in the New Testament, you could write in your Bible’s margin the word “confident”.
And what is confidence? It’s the joyful anticipation of the future because of the promises of God. That’s a whole lot more secure than a simple “maybe.”
It’s a lot easier to live with confidence when you know God signs and endorses a promise saying, “This is what I will do.”
There’s a lot that God says He will do, but I want to focus on one verse – I Thessalonians 4:16-17:
“For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout and with a voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
That’s a promise that comes directly from God’s Word.
He’s signed and endorsed it so you can have confidence in it. And here is what our confidence in the future is all about.
The New Testament says our confidence is about body, soul, and spirit. The resurrection takes place and the body and the soul and the spirit will be united. After that, we will live together on this earth in a pristine new Heaven and new earth forever.
It’s a beautiful future that’s guaranteed by God, but even as we look forward to what’s coming, God calls us to live confidently today.
You see, confidence is also joyful realization – in the present – because of the promise of God.
It’s living life abundantly now as you live with confidence in the promises found in the proven truth of God’s Word!
One last thing to help you live with joyful confidence. I Corinthians 2:9 says…
“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who love him...”1 Corinthians 2:9
Nobody’s seen… nobody’s heard… nobody’s imagined… nobody has thought of what God has prepared for those who love Him. Isn’t that incredible? We live in certainty of God’s promises today, and we can’t even fathom all that’s in store for God’s people tomorrow. What a powerful truth to help us live with confidence in today’s world.
