The Case for Confidence
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6–8
One of the great naval heroes of the American Civil War was Admiral David Farragut. Though he had been born in Tennessee and lived in Virginia, he opposed secession and fought for the Union. He was renowned for his personal courage, and willing to take risks to win a victory. The story goes that he met with another officer named DuPont who had failed in an attack on Charleston harbor. Farragut asked, “Why didn’t you get into Charleston?”
DuPont responded, “It was because the channel was crooked.”
“No,” Farragut said, “That is not the reason.”
“The rebel fire was perfectly horrible,” DuPont added.
“Yes, but it wasn’t that,” Farragut said.
DuPont asked, “Then what was it?”
Farragut replied, “It was because you didn’t believe you could get in.”
The successful and victorious Christian life is not a life of self-confidence. Rather, it is a life of confidence, faith, and trust in the promises of God. We can have a genuine confidence, not based on arrogance or presumption, because God has committed Himself, and He never fails. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). Our confidence is not in our limited strength but in His boundless power and might.
Philippians 1:6–8
One of the great naval heroes of the American Civil War was Admiral David Farragut. Though he had been born in Tennessee and lived in Virginia, he opposed secession and fought for the Union. He was renowned for his personal courage, and willing to take risks to win a victory. The story goes that he met with another officer named DuPont who had failed in an attack on Charleston harbor. Farragut asked, “Why didn’t you get into Charleston?”
DuPont responded, “It was because the channel was crooked.”
“No,” Farragut said, “That is not the reason.”
“The rebel fire was perfectly horrible,” DuPont added.
“Yes, but it wasn’t that,” Farragut said.
DuPont asked, “Then what was it?”
Farragut replied, “It was because you didn’t believe you could get in.”
The successful and victorious Christian life is not a life of self-confidence. Rather, it is a life of confidence, faith, and trust in the promises of God. We can have a genuine confidence, not based on arrogance or presumption, because God has committed Himself, and He never fails. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). Our confidence is not in our limited strength but in His boundless power and might.
Today’s Growth Principle:
Because our work for God relies on His strength and provision instead of ours, we can be confident of success.
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