ISU Wesley - Confidence

Why do we love the idea of a better me?

We love these shows

We are totally afraid that we might be the “star”

We are totally afraid because many of us struggle with confidence

Jonathan Van Ness is a hairdresser and my mom is one… yet I still have this hair!

Jonathan is someone who is a dual norm. He embraces who he is in that he has a totally masculine physic yet he embraces the feminine within him.

It is likely his wrestling through this that causes him to so want to help his client today… he cares about the part of him that is Jonathan’s job but like all stylists, they know that what they are really touching is more than hair, it’s the person beneath it.

Jeremiah 1:4–10 CEB

The Lord’s word came to me: “Before I created you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart; I made you a prophet to the nations.” “Ah, Lord God,” I said, “I don’t know how to speak because I’m only a child.” The Lord responded, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a child.’ Where I send you, you must go; what I tell you, you must say. Don’t be afraid of them, because I’m with you to rescue you,” declares the Lord. Then the Lord stretched out his hand, touched my mouth, and said to me, “I’m putting my words in your mouth. This very day I appoint you over nations and empires, to dig up and pull down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant.”

Some days it is your outfit, some day’s it is your speech. Jeremiah was believing his externals impacted his internal and thus his confidence was shaken.

To be Known.

God says that he knows Jeremiah and that he has known him since the first, whatever. Everyone has a basic desire to be acknowledged, not just as an entity but as a person with unique thoughts, dreams, loves, hates and motivations. When we are born we cry out to the world, “Aaaah!!! Here I am!”

Paul writes to the people of Corinth that “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face...” Jonathan does the best he can to help someone not only be confident in the mirror but also in the face to face image of who we are… Who God created us to be.

To be Accepted.

The power of acceptance is huge. Most of us need to accept the unique person God made us to be and what that empowers us to do.

Our society today is full of people who are unsure of their value. Many of us are deeply insecure. If we fell off of the face of the earth, would anyone miss us? Do we belong?

Lady Gaga actually has a pretty good message to counter this. In an interview, LadyGaga said this about her teenage years in high school: I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn't fit in, and I felt like a freak. Now, her message is that however you are is all right. Her album ”Born This Way” she sings, God doesn’t make mistakes. She is so close to the truth with this message. God loves us and He has made us each unique for a good purpose. But, we’re also deeply flawed people, not because of God but because of our sinful nature.

To have a purpose

Jeremiah was surprised at the plans God had for him. They scared him. That is good… Confidence doesn’t take fear away. Confidence enables you to rely on what has been put into you accomplishing what is before you. God has made you for this Earth, this life and this day. You are ready for it. You survived yesterday and it prepared you for today. You are not ready for tomorrow because what you get today, that gift like God’s word on your lips or that fly makeover, prepares you for tomorrow only when you get there.

In Jesus talks about Knocking that the door being opened unto you. God wants you to have what is on the others side of it all, but God also wants you to knock.