Courage and Confidence over Fear and Doubt

Confidence can be a struggle.

Photo by Anshul on Unsplash

Confidence is something that I have struggled with throughout my life. I do something, but I feel it could be better, or I question the decisions I made, and find myself lacking. I think about past mistakes, and doubt that I am good enough now or will ever be good enough. It doesn’t matter how many things I do right, or even how many compliments I get from others. Deep inside, there’s fear and doubt that can affect my daily life.

“You have to be confident in who you are and what you’re doing. Of course, you try to evolve. I would never tell you, ‘Today is the best I will ever be.’ I’m always trying to be a better chef, a better dad, a better person.” ~Guy Fieri

If we want to be successful, we need to be confident. Guy Fieri has the success he has because of his confidence in who he is and what he does.

Fieri makes it clear that confidence doesn’t mean perfection. We will never be perfect, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be successful.

So what keeps us from being confident? I think the biggest factors are fear, doubt, and self.

Fear and doubt are destructive. They debilitate us and cause us to quit before we even begin. They cause us to second-guess ourselves, and our faith is limited to what we can see.

Focus on self means we are not looking at God, but at what we can see and do ourselves. It causes doubt and limits our faith.

We can counter fear, doubt, and self through faith and courage.

Confidence can be found in Christ. When we have Him, we have everything we need to be successful. But we have to let Him help us overcome fear, doubt, and self.

Faith

Faith in Jesus

First, have faith in Jesus. He gives us confidence because He’s paid the price for our sin and made us new creations. He’s given us grace, offering us salvation even though we don’t deserve it. He gives us strength and overcomes our weaknesses.

“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” ~2 Corinthians 12:9,10

Jesus completes us. He molds us. He works in us to make us successful. He makes up for what we lack and makes our weakness into His strength. Jesus meets our needs and guides us to success.

Faith in Jesus’ good work

“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” ~Philippians 1:6

Christ in my life means that I am not my own. I have given my life to Him, and I am His, which means He is molding me and making me into something “good.” When it’s good for God, it’s good enough. He has promised to continue the “good work” until it’s complete.

Faith leading to peace

Despite our faith in Christ, we worry and are troubled about many areas of life — behaviors, decisions, future, trials, temptations, etc. When we let worry sink into our minds, our focus shifts from God to self. When we focus on self, we focus on what we can see. We see our shortcomings and failures. We see circumstances that we are powerless to overcome.

Christ provides peace. He provides peace and commands us not to be troubled or afraid.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” ~John 14:27

To be confident we need to overcome fear and doubt. To conquer our fear and troubled hearts, we need courage.

Courage

The Lord commands us to have courage. Courage builds confidence.

"Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!" ~Psalm 27:14

"Be of good courage" is a command. So is "wait on the Lord." Sometimes courage requires us to wait, but we can have confidence that the Lord will strengthen us in the process.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” ~ Joshua 1:8,9

The Lord told Joshua three times in Joshua 1 to be courageous. They were facing an insurmountable task to defeat all the enemies and take over the land. It was going to be hard, violent, destructive, and dangerous work. Yet they were commanded to have courage in the face of the challenge. 

I believe God gave them the key piece of that in the verse before. He told them not to let His word — “the book of the law” — depart from them. He wanted it in their mouths and in their minds. He said if they do that, they will have success. So they should be strong and courageous. If they have God’s word in their mouths and minds, the Lord will be with them and they will have success.

Fear destroys confidence, but courage overcomes fear and builds confidence.

“Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.” ~Psalm 27:3

We’re going to be attacked. We’re going to face fear and doubt. We’re going to struggle with self-confidence. We need to have faith and courage. And when our faith is tested, we come back stronger.

“Faith given back to us after a night of doubt is a stronger thing, and far more valuable to us than faith that has never been tested.” ~Elizabeth Goudge

If you are struggling with confidence, consider your faith. Do you believe the promise that Christ is with you? That He strengthens you? That He is sufficient for you? Have you allowed Him to give you peace? How about courage?

If you struggle with confidence, start by going to God’s word and reading His promises, such as those mentioned here.

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