All in Confidence in God
After fifteen years as a stay-at-home mom, I entered the workforce a few months ago. I feel like I live in the land of "I don't know what I'm doing" much of the time. That sort of feeling wears on my confidence. It makes me doubt my skills and results. It makes me tentative and unwilling to take risks and try new things. It makes me waver and lean toward whatever opinion my ears hear.
The truth is, I am a “regretter” We regretters have nets that we can cast wide and deep to dredge up something we said or did a week or a lifetime ago, then we fret and regret , chew and stew. Trust me, such a mindset is not the product of a sensitive conscience or a tender heart. Such foolishness comes from a particularly insidious form of legalism that believes that the kingdom of God is dependent on our flawless performance rather than God’s power through us.
Have you ever watched a potter work, as Jeremiah did in today's passage? It is amazing to see something lovely begin to take shape from a lump of clay. In this passage God was showing the prophet that the nation of Israel-as well as every person from the beginning of time-was to be shaped by His hand. We are all lumps of human clay waiting for the touch of the master Potter.
It was a beautiful early spring day. The sky was cloudless, and the temperature was perfect for an outing. My husband and I decided to visit the zoo in our town.
Poking through sale merchandise always brings me close in spirit to my mother, one of the great shoppers of her generation. How many times would some bargain, upon closer examination, reveal a spot or chip?
It was 1998 and the caller on the other end of the line was Linda Lesniewski. The purpose of her call was to ask if I would be interested in auditioning for a new devotional for women, called encouraging.com.
Doubts creep into my mind as quickly as weeds pop up in my flowerbeds.
I doubt my abilities, faith, feelings, God, and thoughts. Sometimes they are fleeting, but usually they result in anxiety.
