God-Confidence

"God-confidence is trust in God's ability to work through you to shape people and circumstances.  When you have God-confidence, you are freed from both pride and self-recrimination.  You can focus on the job at hand and on the needs of others, leaving the results with God, where they belong." Donna Partow


leaving the results with God, where they belong;  this phrase continues to echo in my mind.  In other words, not my will, Lord, but Your will.  No one can know the mind of God.  God is God and God is always right and His timing is always perfect.


But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.  The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."
Jeremiah 17:7-10

Obedience is possible when God offers to remove our sin-filled heart and replace it with a new heart.  This act of God is radical, to say the least, and entirely necessary in order to fully transform a person who will be a vessel God can use.

I stood in awe, on Saturday afternoon as my husband, my brother and I stood before the magnificent Airlie Oak in Wilmington, NC.  It is a Live Oak that dates back to the 1500's.  You must Google Airlie Oak and see a photo of it.  It does stand near the water and it is a sight to behold!  I believe that oak tree has stood in God-confidence all these years.  Its root system has held tightly and I believe it is still growing.  It is alive and as long as it is alive, I believe there is potential for further growth, including every man, woman and child on the face of the earth.

Today is the fifth anniversary of my family living here in our home.  The land under it was paid for years ago and I believed, even then, with God-confidence, that one day Allen would retire from the Air Force and we would build a house on this site.  It is a beautiful location with woods around us, a rolling meadow behind us and a creek babbling along in the woods near the house.  The pond still has fish in it for John and the guys to catch and release.  The dogwood trees are blooming in the edge of the woods and the azaleas, irises and roses will soon bloom.  The woods are getting greener every day.  The trees are filled with birds singing and the dog and cats are content.  There is harmony in the air and it sounds beautiful.


If you are one with little or no self-confidence, trust God to fill you with God-confidence.   I have lived with  little confidence and I live with God-confidence.  If I lacked God-confidence, I would not be with my precious husband of 27 years and our two adorable children wouldn't be here living and breathing and enjoying life.  If I didn't live and act with God-confidence, Nan's Calendar would never have existed at all.  Any benefit you have received by reading my love notes are completely because of my confidence in the Lord.  I remember how I felt when I understood the call from God to begin writing these devotionals.  God took away any negative thought that could be a deterrent to His will being done to help and encourage others through me.  I am continually filled with thanksgiving.  Yes, every day is a thanksgiving day for me.

Have a wonderful day, walking in God-confidence.  Love and prayers go out to you today.  Love, Nan