Godly Confidence

Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."

But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." 
      Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."

1 Samuel 13:33-37

How did David grow so confident to know that God will deliver the Philistine to him?  Was this a spontaneous calling that David received from the LORD?  Did he have any previous message from God saying that he will confront this giant?  I don't remember any scripture about this but what we do know is that God prepared David by allowing the lion and bear to cross his paths.  

Up until this day, David may have prayed to God asking why all these challenges and struggles.  We, as man, are very short-sighted and fail to see far into the future.  This is a good thing!  Imagine how much less we would depend on God!  But going back to David's previous encounters with the lion and bear...  God was preparing David for this monumental occasion to defeat the Philistine giant.  We see that David just didn't kill him, he was bold and confident that the LORD would triumph and glory would be the LORD's.  

Godly confidence is built upon obedience to what's presented today; not yesterday or even the future.  That confidence will come with being faithful and obedient, not with successes or failures. 

Have I Godly confidence?  Another way to say this is, "Do I trust Him?"  If I say yes then why don't I have the boldness or confidence to walk into a situation, proclaim it for Jesus and walk away with joy?  Have i been fighting my lions and bears?  

I'm guilty of trying to pick and choose what battles to fight.  I want to fight big battles because I feel it's doing more for the kingdom; but I haven't even conquered the smaller ones.  These are challenges in the people right in front of me at this very moment.  My faith and boldness will come through obedience with those right in front of me.

Heavenly Father, thank You for knowing Your children so well.  Help me LORD to keep focus on the eternal goal and the calling You've given me.  But at the same time, open my eyes to see what's right in front of me because that has a piece in the bigger plan.  In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen!