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Tuesday... Disappointments can shake our confidence.


Tuesday... Disappointments can shake our confidence. They really can.

Confidence is very important in facing difficulties and disappointment. How confident are you when you are really disappointed in how a situation comes out? It can cause you not to try again.

Let's say you got a bicycle given to you and you finally get enough confidence to get on it and ride. But you get on it by yourself because you are a very confident person and you fall and skin your knees. And that disappointment makes you less confident the next time you try. You may not even try a next time. But let's say your dad is by your side and he now has his hand on the bike balancing it as you try to ride it again. Your confidence is strengthened by your father's hand being there on the bike and you may wobble some but you finally will get your balance and you will start riding with confidence for the first time.

Maybe you woke up this morning with disappointment. Something you wanted hasn't happened. It was a tremendous opportunity and you thought you had it but it didn't happen and your confidence is shaken. That has happened to all of us, hasn't it?

Now if I had let my disappointments keep me from asking then I would never have asked my wife Margaret to marry me. But I asked and we have now been married for 48 years. God had His hand on my life leading me to Margaret. He knew what He was doing.

Look at this. Proverbs 14:26 (ESV) says, "In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge." Maybe what you wanted and were disappointed in not getting wasn't the best thing for you. Maybe God knew something that you didn't know and He has something better for you down the road. 

The Amplified Bible says, "In the [reverent] fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and his children will [always] have a place of refuge."

Yes, disappointment can be there but confidence can also be there. Don't let your disappointment take over but let your confidence grow stronger because of your relationship with God. 

Verses 26 & 27 in The Message says, "The Fear-of-God builds up confidence and makes a world safe for your children. The Fear-of God is a spring of living water so you won't go off drinking from poisoned wells." You can be confident of that. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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