Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. Jeremiah 17:7 (NIV)

Many a man and woman are fettered by a lack of confidence – held back by their timidity and terror, chained to their anxieties and apprehensions, shackled by faintheartedness and fears.

Robert the Bruce, a past King of Scotland, was such a man. He was fearful and cowardly and had run away to hide from his enemies. Slinking around in a cave he noticed a spider trying to weave a web. Time after time it attempted to climb the silvery thread, only to fall back to where it had started. Fascinated, the king watched as the tiny creature refused to give up and eventually succeeded in attaining its objective. Deciding that he at least had the confidence and self-assurance of a spider, Robert returned to the political fray with fresh courage. History records how he went from strength to strength and finally defeated his enemies when his army trounced the English at the battle of Bannockburn.

Robert the Bruce is a good example of a man who developed self-confidence. But you don’t want to emulate him. God’s Word doesn’t encourage us to develop self-confidence. Believers must develop Christ confidence. Our confidence is to be in Him, and not in ourselves. We mustn’t place any “confidence in the flesh” Philippians 3:3. The Lord must be our confidence (cf. Proverbs 3:26). “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him” Jeremiah 17:7. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” 2 Timothy 1:7.

So place your confidence in Christ. Recognise that when you are in Christ you’ve been liberated. In Christ you’re no longer incarcerated in a jail of fears and anxieties, no longer dragging a ball and chain of dread and dismay, and no longer held hostage to disquietude and despondency. For Jesus has strengthened your spirit, set you free from the law of sin and death, and made you “strong and courageous” Joshua 1:9.

Now act on the truth of God’s Word. Rely on the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, walk in the counsel of God’s Word, “stand fast . . . in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” Galatians 5:1 NKJV.