No Confidence in Myself

Next week is a big week for our household.  I have my follow-up mammogram, the plumbers will decide if we need a new septic system or not, and the courts will decide if our foster kids go back home or stay with us.

To be honest with you, the Nancy Garling I know wants to hide under her electric blanket and pretend none of it is going to happen.

The Nancy Garling that The Lord wants me to be should spend the weekend enjoying life and loving on those He has blessed me with for this season.

So.  How do I choose to be the Nancy Garling that the Lord wants me to be (rather than choose to be buried under my electric blanket)?

I am certain someone out there is dealing with the same choice today.  Perhaps your circumstances are more sobering than mine, more complicated, more painful.  Whatever your circumstances are, hear me when I tell you that Satan relishes in seeing you bury yourself under that electric blanket too.  That should make you mad.  Because The Creator never meant for us to live in fear.

When I was in a particularly bad season of my life, my cousin Susie told me that she couldn't wait to see what The Lord was going to do through that circumstance.  I thought she was off her rocker thinking like that, and invited her to join me under my electric blanket.

But her words stuck with me, and I began to recall all of the amazing ways that The Lord has moved in my life.  And soon, I peeked out from under that blanket.

You see, I think the key to deciding how you are going to live in the face of trials starts with one simple word.

CONFIDENCE.

Not in yourself--no!  Confidence in what The Lord will do in your life.  Because He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion (Philippians 1:6).

So get your paper and pen.  If you can't drag yourself out from under your electric blanket to get them, call on someone to help you get those items and start writing down all of the ways that The Lord has moved in your life.  Ask Him to remind you of those times.  Get others in your inner circle to remind you of other times that you can't recall.  Write them down and put them in your pockets.  They are your history with The Lord and will see you through those times when you are tempted to hide under your electric blanket.

So if you are wondering, I am choosing to be a biscuit this weekend and soak up all the joy The Lord has blessed me with today.  

Because I am CONFIDENT in HIM.