Confidence

Ever have a confidence issue?  Me too.  Funny how it affects you.  Because there is so much you don't know you can become indecisive and play it safe.  Dreams fade.  Risk is a stranger.  And life shrinks.  If only there was a way to see into the future?

Most of us who know the Lord would say that He sees and knows.  I was rereading parts of the Christmas story again and it got me thinking.  The angel shows up and tells Joseph to get out of Bethlehem and take Mary and Jesus to Egypt because Herod is about to search for Jesus to kill Him.  Interesting, Herod had not made that decision quite yet.  After Herod dies, the angel appears and tells Joseph it is safe to return.  When Joseph gets back to Judea he sees that Herod's son who is like his Dad is ruling in  that area so Joseph settles the family in Nazareth.  The Scriptures say that both those incidents fulfilled prophecies about the Messiah.  You can read Matthew 2:13-23 here.

That got me thinking.  How many events, decisions, and actions did God not only know but guide and direct through history that were fulfilled in Jesus' life, death and resurrection?  So I did some checking.  One site lists 354 prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus.  You can read it here.  CBN did an article regarding the over 300 prophecies fulfilled in Jesus and the likelihood of that many being fulfilled in one person is astronomical.  48 of them being fulfilled is 1 in 10 to the 157th power.  The likelihood of all 300+?  Well, its Jesus.  Read the article for yourself here.

We are not the Messiah and there aren't over 300 prophecies about us.  But there are the promises of God for us.  And the same God who brought all those prophecies to fulfillment in Jesus is still governing history in such a way to make sure that all His promises are fulfilled for us.  And in light of that we can live confidently.  Our confidence is not in ourselves but in knowing Him and allowing Him to direct our steps.  What we don't know today, He does.  What we can't do, He can.

So live confidently.  The Lord cares just as much about you and His plans for your life as He did and does about His Son.  That, is an amazing thought.  Do you believe that?