Confidence and Assurance

   

     This morning I started a conversation with my family around the breakfast table. Can anyone tell me what the word confidence means? I received blanks stares for nearly a minute while they contemplated my question. It wasn't so much that they couldn't answer the question, everyone at the table is well versed in the English language.  I think their silence had more to do with contemplating the motivation behind my question.  You could almost hear the cadence to the theme song for Jeopardy playing in the background.  Listen, can you hear it? 
     Who will break the silence?  Obviously me with my next question, "Can you use it in a sentence?"   My eldest daughter’s eyes brightened as my younger daughter continued to stare at her waffle.  She said, "I have confidence that I will do well on my math test this week."   Well, that news was pleasing, but I asked again, "Okay, so that's good, now what does confidence mean? As she further pondered my question she said, "Well, that means I'm certain."  By this time our youngest daughter was breathing a sigh of relief, thinking she was off the hot seat she looked up reaching for the butter but still trying to avoid eye contact.  I continued, "So, you are setting your sights on your upcoming math test, of which you trust with certainty that you will pass with flying colors?"  Of course, I assumed that everyone at the breakfast table knew what "flying colors" meant.

     Next, I moved on to another question satisfied that they were confident what the word confidence meant.  "Can anyone tell me what the word assurance means?  We had been practicing for an upcoming Intermediate school spelling bee, so I'm sure my youngest daughter was hoping I would ask her to spell assurance rather than define it.  A few nervous coughs later we had developed a definition.  "It is a declaration of confidence or a hope that is resting on a promise or firm belief."  If we look at a secular understanding, we might see a definition like this, "self-confidence in one's own abilities." Go ahead, google the word assurance and see what you find.  I actually prefer the definition found in the Meriam Webster's dictionary which says, "easy freedom from self-doubt or uncertainty."    But I have to ask, Are we humans, without God, truly capable to have complete confidence of things until we see them?  Is our certainty measured in degrees?  Are we ever genuinely devoid of all uncertainty?  What do you think?

     If you aren't aware of my steering this conversation, let me ask, "Where or on what, do you place your hope?"  I know that wasn't an audible voice, but the quotation marks I placed around that last question seemed more relevant as if I were asking you that question for real.  Imagine you are sitting at our breakfast table.  Our family was still on the path of looking at their daily routine in our very human existence.  They were saying things like "my hope is placed on passing a test," or "I hope I will achieve good grades," or on the lighter side "I hope I will not forget my lunch today, that would be bad!"  By now, my husband was beginning to understand where my questions were leading.  It is so nice when we are on the same page,  I'm sure he would have preferred that I had prepped him in advance on my strange line of questions.  He said, "I hope that my faith will grow so that I become more of what God wants me to be."  He was getting closer.  Do you remember the game, "you're getting warmer, warmer, warmer, hot! Hot! HOT!!".  Now they turn the wrong direction taking only one step and you say "you're ice cold".  This is the simple game where through phrases you are trying to lead someone toward what you have hidden in hopes that they will find it.  I assure you, I was not trying to play this game or hide the answer.

     So you might ask, “Why did I throw a pop-quiz at my family during our normally comfortable breakfast time?  The answer:  I was trying to help my family to begin their day "focused on things that truly matter."  The definition of faith found in Hebrews 11:1 tells us, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." (NIV) I was trying to bring to the forefront that where we place our hope will ultimately guide our steps.  As we continued this conversation, my kids may have called it an inquisition, we talked about the things we focus on, like preparing a meal, taking a test, interacting with our friends, or getting through the workday.  God asks us to focus on things above.  In Colossians 3:2, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”  (NIV)   When we define words like confidence and assurance, we typically look at something concrete like what we can see, hear, touch, taste or smell.  We are giving ourselves over to the experiences of life.  When we set our sights on things above, we are using our confidence and assurance to walk in such a way that others can see the light of Jesus reflected through us. 

       Now I was about to take the conversation deeper.  We need to make sure we are setting our minds, hearts, and souls on God.  Our lives will drive us to look at temporal things all day long, but when we are intentional, we can break the bondage that takes away our ability to seek God.  "If we are looking toward the future, beyond what any of us can truly see, where would we place our hope?" I asked.  At that moment our mortal conversation took a U-turn.  "Ahh, I wasn't thinking about those things at all." 

     In the faith chapter, Hebrews 11 verse 13 we see, "All these people were still living by faith when they died.  They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth."  In other words,  what was driving their daily journey?  Was it their sight?  No, they were persevering through some difficult situations.  Think about Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Issac, Jacob, Moses, the Prophets, or Paul, their eyes were all focused with confident faith in what they hoped for and assurance of what they could not see.    

     We live in a visible world, or we believe we do, but those of faith, “the ancients” as they have been called, knew there was far more than the eye could see.  Think about the two words that we have been tossing around:  confidence and assurance.  Can you see confidence?  Can you see assurance?  Neither of these concepts is visible in themselves, but it is through their expression that they become visible.  Think about the wind.  You can't see it, but you can see the results of what it can do.  It is the same with our faith when confidence and assurance define it.

     In the faith chapter, Hebrews 11, we can see the examples of what was pleasing to God and what He was willing to reward.  Here we read what He (God) found commendable:

• Understanding that the universe was formed at God's command so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible, (v. 3)
•  Knowing that it is impossible to please God without faith because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him, (v.6)
• Recognizing the warning signs, about things not yet seen, he (Noah) condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith, (v. 7)
•  Looking beyond what makes sense to humankind: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Looked forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God, (v. 10)
•  Considering Him faithful who had made the promise, (v.11) Sarah’s response to her highly implausible pregnancy at the age of ninety.

   I cannot create my children’s faith; I can only teach them how to define this concept, it is God who opens their hearts.  I cannot create confidence and assurance in them, but I can show them what it means to walk by faith.  Our statement of faith is “believing the Word of God and acting upon it, regardless of the way I feel, because God promises good results.”   As parents, it is our job to teach our children about faith in God, but it is God who will reveal Himself to them.  It is important that our words are followed with actions that exhibit that we have the kind of faith God has called us to, confidence in things hoped for and assurance of things not seen, in our daily walk with Jesus.

Where do you place your confidence?   How can one increase their assurance of things unseen?

Proverbs 28:26 (ESV)

Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.