Confidence = Your Ability

Godfidence = God’s Ability

There is a big difference between confidence and Godfidence. Confidence is about what you can do, it is man-made, however Godfidence is about what God can do, it is God-made! It is great to have confidence, and we do need it, but Godfidence is an even greater zone to live in. When we have Godfidence we are walking in His power, His ability, and His will! I love this story of a boy with confidence…

A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded,

“Eighteen to nothing – we’re behind.”

“Boy,” said the spectator, “I’ll bet you’re discouraged.”

“Why should I be discouraged?” replied the boy.

“We haven’t even gotten up to bat yet.”

Godfidence is similar to this boys response, but it is about trusting in God’s ability! So the question is… “How do you get Godfidence in your life?”

1. Believe God is BIGGER than your SITUATION.

We tend to MAGNIFY our situations and shrink GOD. We need to MAGNIFY GOD and shrink our situations. It’s all about perspective. If I were to put a piece of paper directly in front of your eyes you wouldn’t be able to see anything but the paper. It would appear that the paper is HUGE blocking all your vision. The truth is the paper is tiny when you pull it away from your face. Too many times we think our situations that we are facing are huge and we can’t see past them.

Let me ask you a question…”Is the room you are in right now big or small?” Think about it…is it a big room or a small room? The answer is neither. It is neither big nor small, it only becomes big or small when you compare it to something else. The room you are in is small compared to a stadium, however it is huge compared to a small closet. The room only becomes bigger or small based on what you compare it to. The issues or situations you are facing are small compared to God greatness. They are nothing compared to God’s power and ability. Godfidence is about comparing your situations to God’s power not your own! Compared to our ability we may be facing big issues, but compared to God they are small!

The Children of Israel had a perspective problem when they made their situation bigger than their God…check this story out…

Numbers 13:1-33

The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.” So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.

 Report on the Exploration

They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country;and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

 Numbers 14:1-10

That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.  All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. 

WOW! The people saw their situation way bigger than they saw God’s power. However Caleb was able to see God’s power as bigger than anything they could face. So the challenge today is to see God as bigger than anything you are facing! Don’t allow your situation to become bigger than the power of God that is at work within you! When you see God as bigger than anything you will face, you will begin to have Godfidence fill your life and you will begin to see greater things happen in and through you!

The 2nd way to get Godfidence in your life is…

2. Have more FAITH than you do FEAR

The scales will always tip to one or the other…faith or fear. We will either have more fear or more faith in any given situation. Godfidence is about tipping the scale of faith! It is about adding more faith so that the fear doesn’t take over. Faith is not the absence of fear, is is simply stepping out in spite of it. As a matter of fact if you do not have some fear in your life you probably aren’t doing very much! If you find yourself comfortable then you may be in danger of not growing into greater things for your life. Fear is not wrong unless it keeps us from stepping out in faith.

You can’t wait for faith to fill you before you step out, you have to step out and then the faith will begin to fill you. Too many people wait for the fear to leave them and to be filled with faith before they step out. However, faith doesn’t work that way. Faith is about stepping out first then the faith begins to fill your life. Those that wait for fear to disappear before they step out will be sitting most of their life. God will always call you to greater areas in your life because He loves you and has endless plans for you!

If I were to ask you to walk across an 8ft beam that was only 2ft off the ground would you do it? Probably yes, you would think twice about it. However, if I were to raise it 5ft would you still do it? Probably! What if I raised it 25ft? What about 50ft? What about 500ft? What about 5,000ft? At what point did you drop out? Probably around the 25ft-50ft if not before. Why did you drop out? Was it because you don’t know how to walk across a 50ft beam? Of course not. It takes the exact same skill to walk across a 500ft beam as it does a 2ft beam. Nothing changed except your fear of the height. Fear keeps us from going higher and higher believing God for greater things!

This is why the Apostle Paul said…

2 Corinthians 5:7

For we live by faith, not by sight.

Sight will scare you, it can put fear in your life. The truth is if you didn’t know the beam was higher than 2ft you wouldn’t be afraid to walk across it. You are only afraid because of the fear that your sight gives you. You see that it is higher and the stakes are much higher. Walking by faith is about trusting that God can use you to do incredible things at every level that He calls you to. Walking by sight is about measuring and comparing our situation to our ability not God’s ability! We must learn to live by faith!

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Rest assure God will always raise the beam higher and higher in your life, because He has great plans for your life. Don’t be afraid when God raises the beam, He is doing it for a great purpose! Feed your faith not your fear. Invest into your faith not your fear. Don’t invest into fear by thinking about it, talking about it, dwelling on it. There is no fruit in fear only rotten thoughts. Invest into your faith by speaking scripture, thinking on Godly things, declaring your faith and trust in God. Tip the scale of faith and you will begin to see supernatural things happen in your life! God operates on the currency of faith! Check out how important faith is to God…

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

One of the ways we have Godfidence is to grow our faith. How do we get more faith?

a. Ask God For It

The first step in getting more faith is to simply ask God for more of it. We need to make our request known to God.

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Ask God to give you more faith, He is the great giver. If you desire for more faith in your life the simplest thing to do is go to God and begin to want it! Present your requests before God…BE specific – so you can recognize it when He answers! Remember the movie Evan Almighty? The wife of the modern day “Noah” was pouring out her spiritual frustration with the waiter (who was supposed to be God…a.k.a. Morgan Freeman) and this is what he says to her…

“Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

God will give you opportunities to be faithful. So begin to ask Him for more faith!

b. Use What You’ve Got

Faith is like a muscle, the more we use it the bigger it gets. However, the less we use it the more it weakens. Take the faith you do have and begin to use it. God will provide situations where you will need to step out in faith…be faithful! It is not just the BIG things that we need faith for it is also about the small things in life. Be faithful to every opportunity He gives you to use your faith. Use it by stretching yourself and stepping out. Do something for God that you have been fearful of and take small steps. Guess how you make great leaps in life? Step by step, by step, by step, by step, etc… When you are faithful with the faith you do have, you will get more faith to do what you haven’t done!

c. Give It Away

Give your faith away by standing in the gap for others. Believe for greater things in the lives of those around you. Faith is not just for you, it is for others as well. Believe big for your family, friends, co-workers, hey…enemies! The greatest ways we can grow our faith is to give it away by standing in faith with others. What you give away God tends to give you more of. What you don’t give away and hold onto is what God tends to not give you more of. When you are faithful to give your faith away to others, God will begin to give you more! I have found that what you do for others, God tends to do for you. Be a blessing and God blesses you, be a faith-giver to others and God tends to give you more faith!

The third way we can get Godfidence in our life is…

3. Never FORGET God’s Faithfulness

Too many times we tend to forget what God has done for us in the past. We get so caught up in the moment that the remembrance of His faithfulness can sometimes fade away. One of the greatest ways to lose faith and Godfidence is to forget how He has come through before! We can’t allow ourselves to let the present steal His faithfulness from the past. If God came through before, He can do it again!

I have to admit that I have been driving to my in-laws house for almost 11 years now, and I just finally got there on my own not too long ago. They live in the backroads of the country and every time we have driven there I am either talking, thinking, or listening. I rely on my wife to tell my each and every turn (and there are a lot). I was so proud the first time I made it without having to ask. I always forgot the turns each time we went out there.

Just like I forgot the turns and wouldn’t have been able to get to my in-laws house, we too can forget what God has done for us and are in danger of missing His faithfulness. The Bible encourages us to always remember and to speak of the faithfulness of God. Why does it say this? So we never FORGET how amazing God is. For some reason we have a tendency to misplace the faithfulness of God like we do our car keys.

Elijah had this problem in the Bible check out how much Godfidence he had and how God used him in incredible ways…

1 Kings 18:19-40

Call together everyone from Israel and have them meet me on Mount Carmel. Be sure to bring along the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.

20 Ahab got everyone together, then they went to meet Elijah on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you try to have things both ways? If the Lord is God, worship him! But if Baal is God, worship him!”

The people did not say a word.

22 Then Elijah continued:

I am the Lord’s only prophet, but Baal has four hundred fifty prophets.

23 Bring us two bulls. Baal’s prophets can take one of them, kill it, and cut it into pieces. Then they can put the meat on the wood without lighting the fire. I will do the same thing with the other bull, and I won’t light a fire under it either.

24 The prophets of Baal will pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord. The one who answers by starting the fire is God.

“That’s a good idea,” everyone agreed.

25 Elijah said to Baal’s prophets, “There are more of you, so you go first. Pick out a bull and get it ready, but don’t light the fire. Then pray to your god.”

26 They chose their bull, then they got it ready and prayed to Baal all morning, asking him to start the fire. They danced around the altar and shouted, “Answer us, Baal!” But there was no answer.

27 At noon, Elijah began making fun of them. “Pray louder!” he said. “Baal must be a god. Maybe he’s day-dreaming or using the toilet or traveling somewhere. Or maybe he’s asleep, and you have to wake him up.”

28 The prophets kept shouting louder and louder, and they cut themselves with swords and knives until they were bleeding. This was the way they worshiped, 29 and they kept it up all afternoon. But there was no answer of any kind.

30 Elijah told everyone to gather around him while he repaired the Lord’s altar. 31-32 Then he used twelve stones to build an altar in honor of the Lord. Each stone stood for one of the tribes of Israel, which was the name the Lord had given to their ancestor Jacob. Elijah dug a ditch around the altar, large enough to hold about thirteen quarts. 33 He placed the wood on the altar, then they cut the bull into pieces and laid the meat on the wood.

He told the people, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it over the meat and the wood.” After they did this, 34 he told them to do it two more times. They did exactly as he said 35 until finally, the water ran down the altar and filled the ditch.

36 When it was time for the evening sacrifice, Elijah prayed:

Our Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Now, prove that you are the God of this nation, and that I, your servant, have done this at your command. 37 Please answer me, so these people will know that you are the Lord God, and that you will turn their hearts back to you.

38 The Lord immediately sent fire, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones. It scorched the ground everywhere around the altar and dried up every drop of water in the ditch.39 When the crowd saw what had happened, they all bowed down and shouted, “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!”

40 Just then, Elijah said, “Grab the prophets of Baal! Don’t let any of them get away.”

So the people captured the prophets and took them to Kishon River, where Elijah killed every one of them.

WOW! Elijah is doing these incredible things for God and he is in the faith zone, but look what happens just a few verses later…

1 Kings 19:1-9

19 Ahab told his wife Jezebel what Elijah had done and that he had killed the prophets. 2 She sent a message to Elijah: “You killed my prophets. Now I’m going to kill you! I pray that the gods will punish me even more severely if I don’t do it by this time tomorrow.”

3 Elijah was afraid when he got her message, and he ran to the town of Beersheba in Judah. He left his servant there, 4 then walked another whole day into the desert. Finally, he came to a large bush and sat down in its shade. He begged the Lord, “I’ve had enough. Just let me die! I’m no better off than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down in the shade and fell asleep.

Suddenly an angel woke him up and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 Elijah looked around, and by his head was a jar of water and some baked bread. He sat up, ate and drank, then lay down and went back to sleep.

7 Soon the Lord’s angel woke him again and said, “Get up and eat, or else you’ll get too tired to travel.” 8 So Elijah sat up and ate and drank.

The food and water made him strong enough to walk forty more days. At last, he reached Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, 9 and he spent the night there in a cave.

Elijah went from the mountaintop to the cave in a short time. He forgot God’s faithfulness and made Jezebel bigger than God! He feared her rather than having faith in God’s power! How do you go from calling fire down on the mountaintop with 450 enemies that want to kill you to hiding in a cave from one woman? Answer: Forgetting God’s faithfulness.

In order to have Godfidence you have to always remember God’s ability and His track record. If not in your life, look at His word! He will always come through! Whatever situation you are facing know that God is faithful and will work His will through it all! Trust Him, don’t allow the present situations determine the future that God has for you! Speak of His faithfulness, declare His wonders, and believe in His power!

That is Godfidence!