Throughout our lives, we are constantly pressured to be confident, self-sufficient, and be certain of our own abilities, depending on absolutely nothing or no one. Confidence enough in oneself to believe that we can do and accomplish anything we put our hearts and minds to, albeit innocent or ill intended. Given the ideal set of
circumstances we can achieve and compete at the highest level and reach the pinnacle of life. A summit in which the view is simply amazing, patting ourselves on the back, in a self-congratulatory way, as we have long ago, passed our peers and exceeded the accomplishments of our contemporaries. Only to express our aloneness, and the deepened sadness we now feel at the top. Absent of humanities touch, and God’s presence, yearning for something more, as we hear the echo of the phrase,
by Wilson Mizner in 1932;
Be nice to those you
meet on the way up because you will meet them on the way down.
How do we define confidence? Cambridge dictionary suggests the following: (a) the quality of being certain of your abilities: (b) a feeling of having little doubt about yourself and your abilities:
But … what happens when our strength fails, and our substance comes to naught? What happens when in moments of our deepest despair, family walks away, and friends betray us? Wherein lies our confidence when our lives are in disarray, our bodies ravaged by disease, our stomachs ache from hunger, and our once plush savings, in anticipation of a future, are now depleted? Wherein do we place such when our hearts are broken, and our soul cries in anguish for just a moment of relief, when the enemy attacks us, and the presence of God has long
ago departed. Wherefore then, do we cast our hope?
Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Where is it that or in what do we place our utmost confidence? Is it foolproof, does it come with a surety or a guarantee? Are we confident that it will sustain us and remain reliably steadfast? Or draw us deeper into the abyss of uncertainty and sure emptiness? What are we absent of God? Who are we? What do we become? If I attend renowned academic institutions such as Cambridge or Harvard; if I become the CEO of the world's most prestigious enterprise; if by means of strength I become the world's strongest, with an incomparable physique; if my portfolio is equivalent to the upper 1%, and I own lands and territories beyond imagination. Suppose you achieved it all on your own, your own ability, your
own might. What does it mean? Does it have any significance at all?
Today’s episode is titled.
No Confidence
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
