Source of Confidence

Crisis is the great separator of those who will successfully lead in life and those who will hang on as best they can. In those distinct moments of danger, chaos and uncertainty, there are those who, seemingly without thinking, rise quickly to seize the moment and give comfort and vision to others frozen in fear. These crisis-born leaders defy the looming challenge and simply orchestrate positive movement. They are noticed, not so much for what they “do” but rather for what they believe. They demonstrate that attitude is the temperature of the soul.Our days are filled with uncertainties, barriers and doubts.

Our days are filled with uncertainties, barriers and doubts. We push ahead, fall behind and catch our breath. The journey is tiring at times, confusing at others. We ask “Why?” around almost every turn. Life is a course to be run without the ability to see around the next turn. Yet the same path will produce wide differences in travelers.

“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.” Psalm 138:8

The leader that appears to face uncertainty is often grounded in a greater certainty. A certain, confident leader has the ability to calm and command in a way that no words or strategies can produce. A confident calm works without words. It is a smile as circumstances press inward. It is a reassuring touch of the arm to those who see no hope. A confident leader, truly can bring an air of change by simply walking into the room. A confident leader knows of a confidence that encompasses not only the present moment of turmoil but seizes a promise beyond that moment: “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.”

The Psalmist describes a completing or perfecting of a life that is in the hands of God. All that which “concerns” or relates to me either in times of certainty or momentary slips of doubt, is under the leadership of God. As we grow confident in this promise of provision, we grow confident at a leader. When we deeply understand that our journey is a divinely supervised sequence of steps designed to teach us of this perfecting quality of God, the world and it’s issues becomes more understandable. We step aside and let God work His perfecting plan in our leadership life.

Leaders are called to be confident. Not a confidence of prideful, self-promoting swagger, but rather a confidence that understands people need a leader of integrity who points to possibilities yet unseen. Leadership is a moral contract with those we lead, confident in a power well beyond our reach.