Proverbs 3:26

"The Lord will be your confidence and
will keep your foot from being taken."

Hi Kiwanis friends! Happy Spring! (And no, I'm not talking about Karl) My friend Mark Paavola at the Youth for Christ "Encounter" helped me notice something interesting about the confidence spoken of here in Proverbs 3:26. These are his thoughtful comments and I wanted to share them with you. The verse doesn't say that the Lord will give us confidence, rather it says the Lord will "be" our confidence. It sounds minor, but as I thought about it, it seemed more significant than that. When God is my confidence, I'm admitting that I cannot be my own confidence.

It's similar to Jesus being my Savior. He doesn't make me my own Savior, but He does for me what I can't do for myself. So, my confidence is not really mine at all. When I feel confident, it's because Christ is my confidence. It takes my pride and self-sufficiency out of the equation!

This is very different from what our culture tells us. It tells us we need to be able to handle every situation on our own. We need to be capable, confident and independent. We feel good about ourselves when we don't need anyone. Yet, in God's family, we are very dependent. First we need God, then we need each other.

Lord, I thank you that you are my confidence. I praise you that I don't have to be capable all on my own. Forgive me for my pride that always wants to be self-sufficient. My culture breeds it - help me to be cross-cultural. Show me how much I need you - both as my Savior and as my confidence. Finally, show me how much I need others. I thank you that we live in a very dependent family.