Fearfully Confident.

Fear and confidence. Not two words you would ordinarily think belong together. But two words that caught my attention when I read this scripture: Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence.

Are you a confident person or more the unassured, insecure type? By nature, I would say I’ve always leant more towards the confident side, however there was a season when I felt incredibly insecure as God took me on a journey of stripping away a lot of fleshly ideals and heart affections.

What was exposed, was the fact that some of my security and confidence was outside of my relationship and dependence on Jesus. They were based in things of the flesh, not of His Spirit. And as Romans 8:6 tells us, things of the flesh lead to death not life and peace. Albeit a confronting season, my heart response was to welcome God’s fire to refine me, His loving showers of mercies to wash and cleanse me and His spirit wind to winnow away whatever He wanted.

The fear of the Lord is opposite to fear we may experience in the negative sense. The dark spirit of fear breeds anxiety, worry, doubt, overwhelming darkness, dread, and a feeling of doom. Whereas the fear of the Lord is something that brings life and light. When scripture talks of the fear of the Lord it’s not meaning to be afraid of Him, as if He’s a tyrant, judgemental God. Rather it refers to having a deep respect, reverence and awe for God’s power and authority. A proper ‘fear of the Lord’ doesn’t cause someone to be afraid of God, instead it leads us to love Him and receive His love for us. When we fear the Lord, the enemy’s version of dark fear has no place in our lives, as perfect love casts out all fear. Fear of the Lord also leads to faith filled obedience as we acknowledge He is the wisest of all. That’s why Proverbs 1:7 tells us that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.

We are entering a season of AWE and WONDER. A season of seeing God’s goodness in the land of the living. Get ready to be blown away, mouths wide open, heart overflowing with the power and authority of God, our Kings of kings, Lord of lords. Everything this earth offers pales into insignificance compared to the majesty of our Father. What He can do in a miraculous instant, compared to what earth struggles and strives to achieve in the natural will be displayed.

To busy our hearts and minds in the distractions of the natural order or disorder of our world, is a waste of time. If your confidence rests in what’s currently happening or not happening in your business, this will become a very shaky foundation. In this season of awe and wonder, we will see all the things outside of Jesus that we cling to or rely on, come crashing down.

My encouragement to you, is to let go of all fleshly securities that give you that feeling of confidence, and step into TRUE confidence. The strong confidence that comes from a healthy fear of the Lord. The confidence that God has got it, he’s in control, the maker of the heavens and the earth is all powerful and is the supreme authority.

There’s this interesting saying going around in the business world right now, where people like to label themselves the authority of something. Have you seen this marketing trend? People may say they are the authority in social media marketing, the number one authority in real estate investment, the authority in health and wellness, the list goes on and on.

This trend of labelling ourselves the “authority” demonstrates our society’s attraction and desire for self-glorification. The total opposite of God fearing, this culture of sounding confident as “the authority” is actually foolishness from heaven’s perspective.

As business owners that operate in God’s kingdom, not the earthly financial and economic kingdoms, I encourage you to take a confidence health check. Ask the Holy Spirit where is my confidence founded in? Is my confidence in my abilities and my natural strengths, is my confidence found in the fear of man, am I feeling confident when I’m pleasing people around me? Which Proverbs 29:25 says brings a snare. Or is my confidence 100% found in Jesus. In the awe and wonder of who God is, in reverence of His authority and sovereignty? When our confidence is found in the healthy fear of the Lord, it will be a strong confidence that can’t be shaken. No matter what economic circumstance, storm, or season we face, we will be sure, secure, and stable.

Psalm 31:19 How great is Your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you. Which you have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men.  

Psalm 34:9 Oh fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want ‘lack’ to those who fear Him.