Confidence is fleeting. One moment you are sure you have it tucked in your special back pocket, the other you are grasping and flailing about, clearly searching for something that cannot and will not be found.
If I shut my eyes I can see fleeting images of people strutting in confidence yet portraying their search for someone that would accept them just as they were. The images vary, yet there is something shared in all of them.
I can see the young man, so full of promise and energy, trying to be a member of the “in” crowd, and seeking yet another confirmation that he had something to offer. His vitality and smile alone was attractive but I do not think he believed it himself. His humor was infectious yet he seemed to be immune.
I catch a glimpse of the young model sitting alone at lunch, quietly waiting for her friend to return. Her beauty was apparent to everyone around her but she herself was blind. To survive in her business takes intelligence yet everything in her body language said that she saw herself quite differently.
I pause and wonder at the potential of one who has the knowledge and experience in his past yet seeks just one more confirmation to be certain of something that can only be taken in faith. Here is God’s child and friend, yet he looks for something that will eliminate the very trust that God expresses and looks for from you and me.
“Know-it-alls don’t like being told what to do; they avoid the company of wise men and women.” (Proverbs 15.12)
I catch a glimpse of my reflection and I see in myself each of the faces I carefully and methodically dissected. God offers each two responses no matter where one has been or is currently at.
First, God offers unconditional acceptance where and as you are.
Second, God provides the company of men and women on a similar journey. In His book, living faith is trust and equals wisdom.
God loves you; eternally, completely, openly, and currently.
