Confidence

“This is why I suffer as I do. Still, I am not ashamed; for I know Him [and I am personally acquainted with Him] whom I have believed [with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in the truth of His deity], and I am persuaded [beyond any doubt] that He is able to guard that which I have entrusted to Him until that day [when I stand before Him].”
‭‭2 TIMOTHY‬ ‭1:12‬ ‭AMP‬‬ http://bible.com/1588/2ti.1.12.amp

I heard Jesse Duplantis say, that we as believers are supposed to be gaining our PHD…..

Past Having Doubt-

I believe that’s exactly where the Holy Spirit has led me this past year.

My “Word” for the previous year, as I may have shared before, was, and still is (we have a few days left )

Confidence .

So, you can imagine my excitement this morning, as I was led to this passage of scripture.

It’s as if the Holy Spirit is wrapping this whole lesson up with a beautiful bow and ribbon curls- the long- dangly kind.

After having just experienced what the packaging does for a gift, (as I watched the ladies at Christmas all ooh and ahh over a beautifully, large, hand painted box vs a bag that was duck taped and crumbled,) I realize the importance of how the packaging of something draws attention no matter what the gift is inside.

But God, Perfect as He is, never ceases to amaze me, by not only gifting us with incredible wisdom and increase into Truth, but also, wrapping it up for us with the most intricate detail.

What might that look like (some may ask?)

The wrapping of His Word may come through the form of a friend speaking hope and truth into your life. It may be the right song at just the right time. (That was huge for me as a new believer and still is to this day .) It May be the right devotional, like it was for me this morning.

God’s Word is the gift- the way He gets it to you, is the wrapping.

I’ve learned over the years that God is more into us praying what’s on our heart, and not simply repeating a routine. It’s not about our “time in”- time in the Word, time in prayer…. it’s about the quality of exchanging communication. That means talking to Him, specifically,  about whatever is bothering you, or what you’re excited about, and expecting an answer.

This is the kind of relationship that Paul was talking about, when He said, “I Know Him…”

To know- means to have become acquainted with. You have to spend time with someone to get to know them. You spend time with God through His Word. That’s where We find the greatest source of His direction to us.  And then, as I’ve shared before, He will always confirm it in two or three witnesses to back up what He’s said.

(Make no mistake, when God speaks… it will ALWAYS line up with the Written Word.)

So, at the close of this year, Paul is admonishing Timothy, who is admonishing me, as I’m sharing with you-

that we can, beyond any doubt, entrust our God with every single detail of our lives.

From our marriageable  and children, to our home and our belongings, to our friends and family, and right down to what We will eat and where we will go today- we can trust Him.

With all of the uncertainty around us, we can still be certain of this very thing….

that our God can be trusted, and in that, I rest my confidence.