Perhaps you have heard the phrase that serves as the title of my blog post, “Confidence is key”. If you’ve ever been coached for a job interview or played sports then this concept is almost certainly familiar to you. The idea behind this expression is that whenever a person faces a rather difficult challenge, whether that be attempting a game-winning shot at the buzzer or trying to impress a potential employer, half the battle is simply having confidence in yourself and your abilities to carry out the required task. Confidence is the key that unlocks the door to our greatest achievements.

There may be a grain of truth to this common piece of advice. As someone who played basketball in high school I can certainly agree that I always performed better when I played with confidence rather than uncertainty and trepidation. Even now, as I struggle to learn how to become a better teacher, I am quickly realizing that speaking and acting with confidence (something at which I am not particularly skilled) is one of the most important elements to making sure the students listen. Second graders will not respond to a teacher who appears unsure of themselves.

But if we can put aside the practical implications that come with merely having some general sense of “confidence” for just a moment, I want to see if I can provide a fresh perspective on this popular expression.

I will actually seek to take the phrase one step further. When understood under a proper light, I can wholeheartedly assert that confidence is indeed the key — to peace, hope, joy, and even life itself. Confidence is the key to a “successful” life, if only we understand what our confidence is in and what successful actually means. To put it succinctly, it is confidence in the Lord — His work, His love, His grace, His power, His mercy — that will lead to a life worth living.

This could, I’m sure, be expounded upon ad naseum, but for now I will settle for three distinct ways in which this particular strain of confidence is the key to life.

Life everlasting (Confidence in His Sacrifice)

The most important and most obvious sense in which confidence is key might also be the most easily forgotten. We tend to glide over those things that are most familiar to us. For many who have been Christians for a long time, this is familiar. But the familiarity of it should not cause us to rush past it, but rather draw us deeper into its truth. Confidence is the key to life everlasting, because the only path towards eternal life is by complete confidence in Christ’s sacrifice.

There is no place for trepidation here. We do not have time to be unsure. We cannot prepare a backup plan of good works just in case the whole cross thing doesn’t get the job done. We don’t get to have one foot out and one foot in. There is no contingency. Christ requires that you place all your faith and all your confidence in Him. This is a circumstance where we must put all our eggs in one basket. Anything else is rightfully called “sinking sand”. If you are not with Him, you are against Him (Matt. 12:30). If you are found to be lukewarm, you will be spit out (Rev. 3:16).

You must learn to say with sincerity in your heart, “Lord, I trust only in the sacrifice of Your Son.”

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“A good man, when dying, was asked what he was doing, and he said, ‘I am throwing all my good works overboard, and am trusting wholly in Jesus; I am throwing my good works away, and lashing myself to the plank of free grace; for I hope to swim to glory on it.'” 
– Charles Spurgeon

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A content life (Confidence in His Sovereignty)

If you’re waiting for your life to become peaceful based on outside circumstances, then you’re going to be waiting forever. Rather, a peaceful life is the fruit of a content heart. “But how on earth”, you might be thinking, “Am I supposed to be content and peaceful when there are so many terrible things going on in my life?” I’m glad you asked.

If you’ve picked up on the theme of this very blog post, you might be able to gather that one of the keys to a content life is confidence. Yes, confidence. But not in your ability to figure it all out or pull yourself up by the bootstraps or whatever other cliche statement you can think of. Rather, it is confidence in the sovereign and guiding hand of God.

It is remarkable how free you will feel when you learn to trust that God is sovereign and that God is good. Especially when you realize that His sovereignty and goodness are personal. If you are an adopted son of the Father through the cleansing blood of Christ, He takes special care of you. Calvin put this nicely in his Institutes: “The design of God is to show that He takes care of the whole human race, but is especially vigilant in governing the church, which he favors with a closer inspection.”

How could you not be at peace when beaming with the confidence of God’s supreme reign? To know that an omnipotent God is watching over you will soothe any wound and alleviate any fear.

“Happiness is always dependent on the ‘if.’ ‘If’ this happens, then I’ll be happy. Joy, on the other hand, is always ‘because of.’ ‘Because of’ this, I’m already content.”
– Ronnie Martin

Success in life (Confidence in His love)

This sub-heading is a bit misleading, because I am not going to promise any real physical success in this life and nor will Scripture. But I wanted to end with a somewhat “natural” consequence of confidence, when understood rightly.

The idea behind the original phrase “Confidence is Key” does, I think, have some truth to it. After all, it is hard to succeed in anything if you go into it with your shoulders slumped or your heart full of fear. Thinking “I’ll probably fail” or “This is hopeless” is a surefire way to go nowhere in life.

I’d like to encourage you to leave behind that attitude the next time you are facing something hard. However, my encouragement will not be wrapped up in the belief that you have the ability to accomplish anything you put your mind to. You don’t. Sorry.

But that does not mean you cannot be confident in the choices you make and the actions you take. Because of the Father’s love for you, you can! When you are confident in His love and approval of you through Christ, there is no room left for fear. Failure seems like a distant memory. The thought of not being good enough no longer even registers. Nothing can separate me from His love, so why not walk into the next job interview with my head held high?

This is a lesson that I am trying to preach to myself. I oftentimes walk through life in fear. Fear of failure and fear of man. I am an introvert of the highest order, and can at times get too wrapped up in looking foolish or wondering what others will think. My own insecurities lead me to a crippling downfall. I’m left in a standstill — unable to grow in my abilities because I lack any confidence.

As a Christian, I must remind myself that this is not just silly and unproductive, but sinful. It is not humble to be afraid of failure. It is an affront to the love of God. It says that something is not even worth trying because the consequence is too great if things going awry.

Act boldly and confidently when faced with a challenge. Do it without fear. Do it with confidence. But not in your abilities — in His love, knowing that you do not have to fear the consequences of failure because they are only temporary. And you may even find that God’s gracious hand will bless your submissive confidence with fruit.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” – Prov. 3:5

“We who live before the audience of One can say to the world ‘I have only one audience.  Before you, I have nothing to prove, nothing to gain, nothing to lose.'”
– Os Guinness

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