A CONFIDENT HEART - Discovering the Shadow of My Doubts

Reflection and Discussion  

1. What is your earliest memory of doubting yourself or feeling insecure?

I can’t remember never having doubted about my abilities.  In fact, I have always doubted myself. After graduating from high school, I didn’t know what course to take up, which resulted to my enrolling in a secretarial course. I remember during my childhood, I told myself I wanted to be a Pharmacist, and then later, I told myself I would take up Journalism. But these courses seemed difficult for me. I am not very good in Math or Algebra, and I am not articulate. So I ended up enrolling in a secretarial course.

2. Has insecurity ever kept you from doing something?

I have always been conscious of my limitations.  After High School, I was unsure of what course to take up in college, so I just enrolled in a secretarial course.  (Later on, feeling that this course was not enough for me to be able to succeed career-wise, I proceeded to study Commerce, and much much later, enrolled in MBA, which I was able to complete, but did not submit my thesis nor defended it.)

3. Describe how it makes you feel when doubt whispers:  “I can’t do this.”  “Things will never change.”   “My life isn’t going to get better.”   “It’s too hard.”  “I might as well quit.”

It makes me feel that I am not good enough.   That I am not as intelligent as other people.

4. Describe what happens in your heart when you read God’s words:   “Those who hope in me will not be disappointed” (Isaiah 49:23).  “See, I am doing a new thing!” (Isaiah 43:19).  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).   “All things are possible to (her) who believes” (Mark 9:23).

I am encouraged that God is there and I can rely on Him because He will not disappoint me.

5. What do you think hinders you most from living with God-confidence on a consistent basis?   Is there a promise listed above that speaks to your greatest need right now? 

To be honest with myself, I think the problem is myself.  I have known many of God’s beautiful promises in the Bible, and had been reading many books about gaining confidence through God, but still I lack confidence.  The promise that speaks to my greatest need right now is “All things are possible to (her) who believes” (Mark 9:23).

6. How would you describe a woman with a confident heart?

A woman with a confident heart is one who has put her faith in God alone; she is one who knows that everything that she is and has is from God, and that she realizes that without God, she is nothing.  A woman with a confident heart is one who can say and believe in her heart that  “I am who God says I am.”

7. Read Jeremiah 17:7.  What does this verse promise and encourage you to do?   Think of one situation where you could live in the power of this promise and describe what that would look like this week. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit"  (Jeremiah 17:7-8). 

The verses promise that when I trust and hope in the Lord, I will be blessed. I would like to share the Gospel to one person this week, hoping that I will be able to make her understand.  I am praying that God will give me the right words and bring to my mind everything that I need in order to make the message clear and understandable.