Juggling Confidence

1 Corinthians 10:12
"Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence."

About 12 years ago, I went to the Renaissance Festival with my family. While there, I came upon a booth where they had a large barrel filled with different colored tennis balls and several people juggling. They invited passers-by to stop and learn to juggle with them. I took them up on their invitation.

An hour later, I was juggling pretty well.

I practiced and practiced until the point where I could do several tricks. At one point, I could even juggle 6 balls in between two people. It was pretty cool.

With the basic juggling pattern of juggling three balls, I don't even have to think about it anymore. It is just so natural. I can even juggle without looking directly at the balls...I can look past them and walk around while juggling. I am very confident in my ability to juggle these three balls, even when I am not directly focusing on them.

I remember a day when I was juggling and I thought to myself: "Self, since you can juggle these here balls and look past them...not focusing on them at all...why, don't you think you can juggle these here balls without even lookin' at all? Self, why don't you just close your eyes and juggle these here balls." And so I thought back to myself, "Hey, that's a good idea!"

And so I began my basic juggling pattern...1...2...3...1...2...3...and I closed my eyes...1...2...bounce, bounce, bounce...

When I closed my eyes and placed my full trust in my ability to keep the three balls aloft, I failed miserably.

Placing our full trust in ourselves is not a good idea. Because when we do, we preclude the power of God in our lives.

Paul, in his first letter to the people at Corinth, tells them to place their confidence...their trust, in God. He names the outcome of putting your confidence in your self as falling flat on your face.

It's a classic if/then statement...cause and effect...if you trust in yourself, then you will fall flat on your face. And if you've ever fallen flat on your face, you will understand this to be a painful option...get some ice!

But, placing our trust and confidence in God is not as easy as it sounds. Because it means giving up control...of every aspect of our lives.

Have you given up control to God...are you God-confident or are you still self-confident?

Have you given up control of your finances? Or are you still self-confident about them...God can't REALLY be serious about giving 10% of the first fruits of our labor, can He?

Have you given up control of your career or job? Or are you still self-confident about it...God doesn't REALLY expect me to share His Good News while I'm at work...does He?

Have you given up control of your marriage? Or are you still self-confident about it...God doesn't REALLY expect me to serve my spouse as Jesus served His disciples...does He?

Have you given up control of your talents? Or are you still self-confident about them...God can't REALLY expect me to use my talents only to further His Kingdom, can He?

Have you given up control of the music you listen to? Or are you still self-confident about it...God can't REALLY expect me to not listen to music which does not honor Him...can He?

We can go on with this inventory...there are so many aspects of our lives...and God wants for us to submit each and every area of our lives to Him...to place our entire trust and confidence in Him and His power...not in ourselves and our own power.

And why does God want this? Because He loves us...and yes, like my parents used to say to me when i was little: "Because I know what's best for you." God knows what's best for us and His power is unlimited.

When we hold onto even one area of our lives, we basically tell God: "No thanks, I've got this one. I'm pretty sure I can do a better job at handling this than You can." And by claiming self-confidence as opposed to God-confidence in even one area of our lives, we exhibit the deadly sin of pride.

Pride...remember what happened when some of the angels exhibited pride? If not, read Revelation 12:7-12. Or maybe you remember your Greek mythology a little better...do you remember what happened to young Icarus whose pride caused him to want to fly to the sun like the great Apollo?

Once upon a time
On a day like today,
Your pride was cashin' checks
That your Spirit couldn't pay.

You better watch out.
You better not cry,
If you take a fall,
When you're tryin' to fly.

Do you want to be God?
Do you want to touch the sun?
Your wings will melt
& that ain't no fun.

Your pride will make you fly.
And be your downfall too.
And many have tried.
Just like Icarus & you.

My dear friends, examine your lives today...every aspect of them: relationships, money, career, social activities, hobbies, entertainment...all of it...and remember what Paul said: "Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence."

Lay it all at the feet of Jesus and ask Him to lead your life. Place your complete and total trust in Him.