REAL Confidence #1

I love speaking to teenage girls. Not because it was a time of my life filled with images like those in High School Musical, because mine mostly weren't like that. Thinking back to my "teen years" causes the involuntarily response of closing my eyes to wince at the thought of the day I went to school with a dryer sheet sticking out of my shirt, or the day a milk carton exploded all over my head in the cafeteria, or the day Mr. Stanbury tore my "Seuss-like" birdhouse to pieces and pierced his hand with one of the only still-straight nails. Memorable, but not always pretty. High school. Confusion. Who would want to relive it? How does a teenager develop REAL CONFIDENCE? ADULTHOOD! Confusion. How does anyone live with REAL CONFIDENCE in today's world?

One part of high school stands out for me as the "take away" I want to keep. Those were years when the ground was tilled and sown in my walk with God & my confidence in Him. When we let God take the confusion of life (Let's admit it ... our confidence never stops being challenged.) and yield it to His providence in our lives, the two blend to create REAL CONF + IDENCE. God's providence is His sovereign action over all things, all details of my life.

Friday night I shared with the teen girls of our church, but I believe all of those thoughts still apply to the "grown up teenagers" I know and to myself. Let me share the answers to "What's REAL Confidence?" over the next couple of days.

First of all, what REAL CONFIDENCE is NOT:
Paul spelled it our in Philippians 3. He could've had confidence in the stuff hoarded from life, if anyone could, but he knew that Real Confidence is NOT in fleshly things. OK, but I'm not Jewish, and I'll never be a Pharisee. We all want to know, "Who am I?"

The promises of the world still create FAKE PASSION that doesn't satisfy, doesn't make us who God wants us to be. False passions for life do not tell us who we really are. Fake Passion makes for an EMPTY LIFE.

We are mean to have REAL PASSION that makes for JOYFUL LIFE. That comes from the CONFIDENCE in knowing that I am beloved of God according to 1 John 4:9, 10, 19. Knowing THAT is where REAL CONFIDENCE begins! Come back tomorrow to see how REAL CONFIDENCE leads to freedom and no fear.

Do you struggle with confidence?