43-A-Step-Of-Faith-Low-Self-Confidence

The speaker shares a personal experience at a swimming pool to illustrate the importance of self-confidence. He then references biblical stories of individuals who displayed confidence in the face of challenges. The speaker encourages listeners to have confidence in themselves and their abilities, reminding them of past successes and the support of God. He uses the story of Gideon from Judges chapter 6 to emphasize that God will be with them and help them overcome their lack of self-confidence. The speaker concludes by urging listeners to regain their confidence and take action, assuring them that with God's presence, anything is possible. Hello and welcome to Join This Chariot for a 5-Minute Bible Study. This episode 43 on A Step of Faith is titled, Low Self-Confidence. My name is Greg Alabi and I'm inviting you to come let us study the Bible together. Sometime ago I went swimming at an indoor swimming pool. As I approached the diving board, the lifeguard quickly warned me that that section was the deep end. I asked how deep. I think he said about 16 feet or so. He then advised I go back to the shallow end for my personal safety. I smiled and thanked him for his concern but politely told him I was comfortable swimming at the deep end of the waters. Not still sure, he watched me dive and continue my business. Much later, he apologized to me and explained how few visitors were either ignorant about the depth or estimated the depth wrongly, wrong judgment, poor assessment and got themselves into trouble. I told him I appreciated he was doing his job and went on to tell him how I personally taught all three of my children how to swim and they went on to win medals at swimming competitions. The lifeguard looked at me differently, this time with some more respect and no longer afraid I was going to drown in the swimming pool. My point, when you are sure of yourself, when you have that training, knowledge and experience behind you, you have what it takes, you have the resources and God is with you, you will walk with confidence. You have a lot of confidence and go ahead to take that step of faith to accomplish your vision or your dream. We find similar stories in the Bible, for example, in 1 Samuel chapter 17, the young David went ahead to face Goliath in verse 37, he said, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear will deliver me out of the hand of the Philistine. In the same way, Elijah confronted 400 prophets of Baal and destroyed them with confidence in 1 Kings chapter 18, remember Jacob wrestled with an angel all night and wouldn't let the angel go until the angel blessed him. In Acts chapter 4 verse 20, despite being threatened with death and imprisonment by the authorities, Peter would not budge, he said, we cannot but speak of the things which we have seen and heard. My point, when you are confident, nothing will stop you from taking the step of faith even where other people dare not step up. But the question then is, you have this potentially lucrative idea, God given, but you are not sure of yourself. You have very low self-confidence, what should you do? With very low self-confidence, first off, let this sink in. You have what it takes, yes, you. You remember you had survived worse things before. You have taken some wild adventures before and achieved some great things. These things had moved your life forward, not because you had everything that you needed back then. It was not easy, it was not convenient, but you went ahead anyways and here you are today, more successful. Therefore, this is your current or your next challenge, although looking bigger, is nothing before your God whom you believed in. Now let us learn some valuable lessons from George's chapter 6. For several years, the Midianites attacked the Israelites. So were the Amalekites and several other nations, they all came up to the Israelites about the same time, raiding and stealing away their harvests and their belongings. Verse 12 to 14, an angel appeared to Gideon and appointed him to defend the Israelites against the Midianite army and all the nations that were coming to attack. His response, you know the story, Gideon had a very low self-esteem, very low self-confidence. He was never in the army, not trained, no experience. In verse 15 of George's chapter 6, the New International Version says, Pardon me, my clan is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh and I am the least in my family. The Message Translation says, I am the least important member of my family. Therefore, in verse 16, the next verse is my message to you. Indeed, God's message to you. If you have zero or low self-confidence to face what is ahead of you, that verse of scripture, God is telling you, surely I will be with you and you will be able to get this job done. The Message Translation says, you can do it because I will help you. You will crush the Midianites as easy as if they were only one man. In conclusion, the God factor. Actually, it is God getting the job done, only wearing you as a mask, as a front to step up. God is ahead of you, behind you and beside you. Therefore, get your confidence back. Go ahead and do this thing. It is doable. It is possible. God is with you. Let us pray. Father, thank you for your presence with us. We receive faith to get it done. In Jesus name, Amen. I want to invite you to visit our website, greggalaby.com. Look for the podcast. You will see previous and current messages there. Listen to them and God bless you.