Quiet Confidence

For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said: ‘You will be delivered by returning and resting; your strength will lie in quiet confidence. But you are not willing.’ (Isaiah 30:15 CSB)

While I’m not in the pulpit this week, I still wanted to take a few minutes to write a word of encouragement to you. Tina and I are taking a few days off and will be enjoying a short trip to visit our kids in Texas and take in a Red Sox baseball game as they play a series against the Texas Rangers.

The verse I cited above is from the focal passage from last week’s study. Hopefully you recognize it. It is a call for God’s people to stop and remember His creation work and establishment of the Sabbath: “You will be delivered by returning and resting…” When God finished His work of creation, He stopped and rested (Shabbat) and then He used this as the means of telling us how we needed to live. We need a day of rest and a time to reflect on God’s provision, promises and blessings on our lives. The people of Isaiah’s day had forgotten these things and so have we.

But this is SO much more than just taking a day off work and planning a trip to the lake, visit a relative, or take in a ballgame. This is about remembering God and His loving care for His children. This is about faith! We tend to have a very shallow view of what faith really is. We think faith it is all about having orthodox beliefs. While it certainly includes that, it is much more than that. It is also about applying those beliefs to daily living and interactions with God, our spouses, our family, our coworkers and our friends and neighbors.

Faith is ALL about taking God at His word and then living in accordance with it. It is believing that loving Him above everything else in life IS the right approach to life and then actually doing it. It is remembering to love others in the same way that you love yourself. It is recognizing that sin is an ever present reality in our lives and seeking to be transformed people by changing how we think and react to it. Even though you may recognize that you continue to struggle with sin daily, be honest and admit that you’ve become far too friendly with it and that it is truly destroying the good things God wants for you. Remember, the deceiver comes to steal, kill and destroy the good that God wants for you (see John 10:10).

So, listen as Isaiah tells us what God thinks about Judah’s failed response to living in faith: “you will be delivered by returning and resting…” He tells them to return to faith and to place themselves in a position of resting in it. In my mind, I go back to the simple lessons of faith I learned as a child. Many of those lessons were taught in the form of scripture based songs: “Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so.” If God loves me enough to die a horrible death in order to redeem me from sin then why do I doubt His love in these daily struggles?

Return and rest… come in, sit down, put your feet up, your mind at ease and put your trust in God’s infinite love for you. No matter what’s pounding on the door, trust Him. No matter what is threatening to upend your life, trust Him. Faith isn’t just about where you’ll spend eternity, it’s about living today in the reality of that promise. As I’ve said before, eternal life is about more than the longevity of life, it’s also about the quality of it. It’s about experiencing the peace of God’s presence in the midst of life’s chaos.

Then He says, “your strength will lie in quiet confidence.” That’s really what faith is, quiet confidence. When you believe God then you are able to quietly but confidently stand with Him regardless of what life throws at you. God reminded the Apostle Paul of this very thing when he was facing a crisis of trust: “Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/2co.12.8-9.CSB) God’s power is perfected in our weakness. Why? Because we rarely rely on God when we’re confident we can handle the situation on our own. Who needs faith in God when you think you’re capable of taking care of yourself?

So God reminds His children that true strength really lies in their quiet confidence in Him. It is only when we recognize this same thing in our own lives that faith begins to be realized in us. Faith is believing God and His Word so much that it affects your actions, life choices and your ability to trust Him when things seem to be out of control. Faith is preparing to sacrifice the son God promised like Abraham because you know God keeps His promises. Faith is praying like Daniel even when the king’s law says doing so will get you the lion’s den. Faith is being obedient like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego even as they stoke the furnace and bind your hands. Faith is forgiving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you because of your belief in and obedience to Jesus.

Quiet confidence is walking faithfully with God even as the world around you grows more and more chaotic. So, learn how to rest in the quiet confidence that God will be faithful and fulfill His promises to us.