Confidence That Does Not Fail

One of my heroes as a kid was Evil Knievel.  He was well known for his incredible gravity defying stunts on a motorcycle.  I remember watching his stunts over and over again.  Evil made it seem so easy, virtually effortless.  The more I watched the more convinced I became that I could do things just like he did.  I'm just saying, that dude had a  lot of confidence. 

One winter while living in Naperville Illinois, I decided I was going to perform my own stunt.  First, I built a wall of snow right on the edge of a snow bank that dropped off on to our sidewalk.  Then I built a ramp out of snow about five to six feet away from the snow wall.  For the stunt, I was going to ride my bike at a high enough speed to launch myself into the air off of the ramp, bust through the snow wall, and then land upright on the sidewalk. 

After the setup was complete, I got my bike.  I took it to the top of the hill by our house and envisioned my stunt.  I saw myself riding mock speed onto the ramp, launching myself in a gravity defying flight, blowing the wall into a million pieces, then landing upright with my bike onto the sidewalk on the other side.  I had seen Evil Knievel so many times repeat stunt after stunt without any hitch.  I had replayed my stunt over and over inside my head so many times without a hitch, I was beyond confident.  I knew that I knew I was going to succeed. 

In my undeniable confidence, I headed towards the ramp.  The wind was blowing, cameras were rolling, crowds were cheering, and the girls were all on the other side waiting to kiss the new hero on the block.  Well maybe not, but the wind was blowing.  As soon as I hit the end of the ramp it collapsed and my bike flipped forward throwing me head first into the now Ice glazed wall.  You see I made the wall first and it sat long enough that it had turned to ice.  On impact, I remember hearing a crack, crunch, and then a cry.  The crack was my head hitting the wall, the crunch was my neck being compressed from the impact and the cry… well it was me.  In spite of all my confidence I failed miserably and painfully. 

Sometimes we can make total fools of our selves because of our self centered confidence.  Or maybe it should be called arrogance.   When we put only self at the center of our confidence, all we have really done is set ourselves up for eventual failure.  Sure self confidence can be a good thing, but it can never ensure the certainty of success. That kind of assurance has to come from something greater than ourselves. 

How many of us can control our future? Who of us can control our surroundings? How many of us can control the unforeseeable and unpredictable? None of us can. 

If you could have a certain confidence that would undoubtedly not fail, would you want it? Of course you would.  Well guess what, there is a confidence that you can have.  It is confidence in knowing that God has a plan for you and He will be faithful to complete it.  Also know this; His plans are not to harm you, but to prosper you and give you hope and a future.

This is a photo I took a few years ago.
It is from a ministry event.
The group was called Real Encounter

Philippians 1:6 

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Jeremiah 29:11 

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

May my life be the proof and evidence of His love!