Are You Trusting in Your Own Ability? Or Are You Trusting God with Your Inability?
I often find myself overly confident in my own ability. After all, I am–ME! 🙂 I have a Type-A personality, including all of the typical characteristics that go along with that stereotype. I am determined, disciplined, driven to complete (complete well, I might add), and dependable. Those are good D-words, aren’t they?
Unfortunately, I also exhibit some of the not-so-nice D-words … demanding, domineering, dictatorial … *sigh*… I can’t bring myself to list anymore. (I asked Tim for some more negative examples. He gave me some, but I thought they were all good qualities. Oh, well. That’s the problem with Type-A. We tend to think we have it all figured out, and then we laugh it off when others don’t agree. Clearly, I have some work to do.)
The Lord reminded me, as He often does, that my confidence is not to be in myself, but in Him, alone.
David
Even though he was a mighty warrior, David did not trust in his own strength, skill, or weaponry; he trusted in God for victory and salvation.
You are my King and my God. You command victories for Israel.
Only by your power can we push back our enemies; only in your name can we trample our foes.
I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me.
You are the one who gives us victory over our enemies; you disgrace those who hate us.
O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name. (Psalm 44:4-8) [Emphasis added.]
Paul
In Philippians 3, Paul goes into great detail, listing all of his personal accomplishments and how he could, if he wanted to, have confidence in them. But in verses 7-8 he clarifies, “[I] put no confidence in human effort …I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.” [Emphasis added.]
Us
God delights in using those who are weak so that He can show His strength and wisdom.
Instead of trusting in your own ability, trust God to use your inability for His glory! Share on XRemember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important … Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:26-28, 31)
My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
When I’m feeling a little too D-ish, the Lord gently and graciously provides an opportunity for me–not–to get it right. It’s downright frustrating to be a Type-A personality and have a major fail. But God uses these times to show me that it’s not about me, it’s all about Him.
What about you? Are you trusting in your “bow or sword,” or your list of accomplishments? Or are you trusting in God alone?
You and I sound a lot alike…
Oh yes, there have been far too many times when I’ve put far to much faith in my own abilities and forgotten where the power truly lies. Thanks for this lovely reminder that my strength comes from Him alone, and that He can use my weakness to display his power. Great post!
Thank you, Dianne! I needed this this morning. While I am not the type A personality, I am still not trusting God with my ability. 🙁 I recently started a job which is very new to me – especially since I have not worked outside the home for nearly 28 years. I have been so nervous and concerned over what I perceive to be my lack of ability. My husband and I believe this job is of God, but I am so fearful of making mistakes. Where is my trust in my loving heavenly Father? i am an encourager, but where is my belief for myself? Whew! As I write this, I am crying (boy do I need that); I think from just being tired and stressed about the job. Today I am off, yet my body feels nervous. What is that? This crying is bringing relief. I feel like such a wimp. Doesn’t age bring some sort of confidence or something? I will be 58 one week from today. I know I am still me, but…
I hope the above makes sense. Thank you for being there, and again, for sharing these truths today. God continue to bless you richly!
You are so precious, Cindy! God has you right where He wants you: recognizing your inability without Him. He will shine through you. He will do it all! Rest in Him, friend.
I love your ‘d’ list… but love even more that God is adding another word.. Disciple, to that list. It is always His grace that draws me in and delivers me from the boundaries I can set in my humanity. 🙂
Blessings,
Dawn
Love these thoughts, Dianne. I am not Type-A (completely…I’m more Type-B), but I do like to do things my way and I don’t like to fail…so God has had plenty of opportunities to knock me down to size. 😉 He’s also given so many examples of showing my weakness fulfilled in His strength in more ways than I can count. That is the most awesome thing of all…and I love when it happens!! Good stuff here. Thank you for sharing and linking up again this week. Glad to see your pretty smiling face. 😀
Dawn, Disciple is a great D-word! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Oh, the drift from trusting in God alone toward trusting in something about me. He’s so faithful to remind me of the truth. Sometimes it’s through circumstances and sometimes it’s through a challenging question. Thank you for yours today. Like you said, my confidence belongs in him alone.
I needed this post this week, Diane! Whenever I trust too much in my own abilities God has a way of showing me exactly who I am—-a dependent child who needs His filling daily. Thanks for this great reminder & for visiting me at Doorkeeper. Blessings!
I have never thought I had many abilities and I wouldn’t let God use me because of it. I am so glad I gave it all to Him!