Confidence

     Remember that song from The Sound of Music? Maria sings "I Have Confidence" when she faces the challenge of becoming governess to the seven children of the stern widower, Captain Von Trapp.  Maria had confidence in sunshine, rain, in confidence alone and in herself.

     Confidence is a popular subject.  It's all over magazine covers and TV commercials.  But will having clear skin or good insurance really make you confident?  And even if it does, is that the kind of confidence you need?  What happens if you have a pre-existing condition or wake up with a pimple?

     The Bible talks a lot about confidence and how to get it.  But it doesn't tell you to get "confidence in me".  The problem with "confidence in me" is that me isn't always beautiful, healthy and wise.  And if "me" pretends to be, then "me" is an egotistical jerk.

     God wants our main confidence to be in Him.  "But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence." Jeremiah 17:7 NLT

     This makes perfect sense because, unlike me, God is always beautiful, healthy and wise!  And so much more!  All-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present, completely just, completely loving...  Totally trustworthy. "Trust in the Lord forever, For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength" Isaiah 26:4 NKJV

     And if we accept His gift of forgiveness, God guarantees that we will spend eternity in Heaven with Him.  If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you're His.  He promises that He is always with you and that everything that happens to you, whether happy or sad, is for your good.  "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28 NLT

"In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me. I will look in triumph at those who hate me." Psalm 118:5-7

   He says you are cherished, protected and headed for Heaven.  And because He is one hundred percent trustworthy and Truth itself, we can have perfect, bold, passionate CONFIDENCE!

"But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation."    
1 Thessalonians 5:8

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

          This movie was so much fun!  Zac Efron stars as the voice of Ted, a young resident of the tree-free, industrialized city of Thneedville where they buy bottled air.  Ted wants to impress his friend Audrey (Taylor Swift) and for that he'll need to find a tree.  So Ted goes to the Once-ler (who sports the dramatic and entertaining voice of Ed Helms). 

          The Once-ler regails Ted with the story of his wonderful invention, the thneed.  The thneed was an all-purpose piece of clothing made from trees and was once the must-have fashion item.          
        The Lorax who speaks for the trees (Danny Devito) is a cute and fuzzy little creature with a mustache and an attitude. He warns the Once-ler not to harm the trees or something bad will happen.  But when the Once-ler foolishly decides to chop down trees instead of harvesting only the part he needs, he uses every tree in the forest and is left with nothing. 

    After all the trees are gone, the Lorax sends the animals away and leaves the Once-ler alone in the gray, barren forest with only the tree stumps and a special stone.  The stone has a word carved on it: Unless. 

          When the Once-ler finishes his story, he gives Ted the last seed.  He tells Ted to plant it where everyone in Thneedville can see so that they will know the importance of trees and free air.
               

        We may not have thneeds, bottled air or the Lorax but our world is a lot like Ted's.  Like the forest that was once beautiful, our world was once very good:

"Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!"

 Genesis 1:31 NLT



          Like the Once-ler, we got a warning:

"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.' " Genesis 2:16-17 NKJV

 

          We didn't obey and something bad happened:

"For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23a NKJV

 

          And we have an Unless:

"...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23b NKJV



                  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16 NKJV 

 

Christ lived the perfect life we never could and died in our place, as our substitute, taking the punishment from God that we all deserve for the wrong we do.  Now we can be forgiven and go to Heaven someday if we accept this gift.

 

And we have a seed to plant by telling everyone we can so that everyone can see the importance of Jesus and free eternal life!