Confidence

2 Corinthians 3: 2-5 - You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.  Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

What a beautiful scripture...that tells us that we are God’s reference….a living testimonial to the love of God. We should be confident in who we are and what Christ has done for us because God himself wrote our letter of recommendation on our heart.  Moses got to watch God write his very rules of righteous living on heavy tablets of stone…but we have the privilege of having the Spirit of God write our directions for sharing his love on our very hearts...if we ask him to come into our heart and live there.

My first thought when I read this last night was how very weak I am in the area of confidence…as I have read and studied…I am gaining confidence...but many times feel very ill equipped to be a vessel in any capacity for God. This scripture brought all those moments to mind when I was afraid to speak in public…..babbled out a weak public prayer in Sunday School class….went to great trouble to pass the microphone to another singer in the choir…and the moment each morning when I say with uplifted face…father help me write this day…I have not clue what you want put on this page.

Here’s the magic thing that I cling to…somehow…even when I try to sidestep a singing job…clear my voice to stall before I pray out loud…sip a bit of coffee while my brain wakes up in the morning….the Holy Spirit of God ALWAYS shows up and takes control…and somehow…someone is blessed…or encouraged…or taught something new about Christ…from something I was LED to say….or something I was LED to do….amazing! If I put my confidence in God….if I believe and have faith in him…he can saturate my life with his confidence…..again….amazing

God can do anything through us that we allow him too…even provide the confidence we lack in ourselves.  Because we are allowed to see him fully…just like Moses.  But unlike Moses…who had to veil his face….to cover up the glory of God…we are called to let his glory shine to the far corners of our world…we who have allowed him to live in our hearts…well Paul’s words in verses 16-18 are better than mine to make this point, “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Father…fresh tears fall this morning as I pray…to realize just how big you really are…and what love you have allowed me to tap into…I am so overwhelmed at what is possible when I truly grasp the power of what YOU can do through me….when I  fully let go of ME.  Help me Lord to grasp hold of YOUR confidence….and help me do what you have planned for me to do.  Take my heart this morning and write your recommendations for the next segment of my journey with you.  Allow me to understand each direction you write and have the confidence to quickly carry it out…no matter what you call me to do.  Amen.