November 2, 2025 Devo

There was a great old story I heard years ago about a young man who was the guest preacher at a church. He was fresh out of seminary and was one of the top students in his class. As he stepped up to preach, he was brimming with confidence. And why not? His teachers had been the best of the best, and he was one of their prize students. He knew Greek and Hebrew and was a strong theologian. He had no doubt that he would “wow” them as a preacher. He didn’t walk to the pulpit. He strutted.
But things didn’t go as he planned. He fumbled his words. He mixed up his pages of notes. What began as a small ripple of nervousness soon began to grow into waves of anxiety and fear. After stammering and stuttering his way through several minutes of disconnected thoughts, he finally ended with a weak, “Thank you.” As he hung his head in embarrassment and made his way off the stage, an old, wise man leaned over to his wife and said, “If he had come in the way he went out, he could’ve gone out the way he came in.” Camp on that thought for a little bit.
The declaration of the psalmist resonates with me. “My heart is confident in you, O God.” I’ve discovered, like the young, foolish seminary student, that whenever I put my confidence in myself, I fail. I don’t have the strength and willpower to follow Jesus with all my heart. I don’t have the wisdom or ability to lead a church. And I certainly don’t have the power to change lives or save souls. So, I have NO CONFIDENCE in myself. But I have TOTAL CONFIDENCE in God!
Paul said, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” That means that it is in those times when we are very aware of how dependent we are on Him that we are at our strongest. When we daily seek God’s presence and power because we know we can’t live a holy life on our own, we walk victoriously. When we cry out to God to guide us, lead us, and prepare the hearts of those we minister to, God can work powerfully through us. When we approach life with a humble awareness of who we are not and a complete surrender to who God is, that’s when we can be who He’s called us to be and do what He’s called us to do. So say this out loud with me: “I have no confidence in myself. But I have complete confidence in God!” That’s God’s Word for you today.