Confidence in Sunshine!

“Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth,” Hosea 6:3 (NIV).

I love the movie, The Sound of Music! I grew up singing, “How do you solve a problem like Maria,” and “I have confidence.” Recently, I came across the lyrics to the song, “I have confidence”:

I have confidence in sunshine

I have confidence in rain

I have confidence that spring will come again

Besides which you see I have confidence in me

I laughed when I saw these words. How can you possibly have confidence in sunshine and rain and spring? I suppose she means that she’s confident that, at some point, there will be sunshine or rain, and that spring must, most certainly, arrive; therefore, she’s confident in its arrival.

The point of Maria’s song, however, is not to reveal the inevitable. She is trying to get up the nerve to do the job placed in front of her. Though her actions and intonation imply that she is not truly confident in herself, she does blaze forward, determined to succeed. She proclaims, “Besides which, you see, I have confidence in me!”

Most days, I can relate to Maria. The world is filled with expectation and I am determined to succeed. I march through my day, caring for my children, making meals and folding laundry and meeting the needs of others. I am quite good at it. Then it happens; something disrupts my forward momentum. It doesn’t take much: a squabble between the kids, a request from my husband that I don’t want to meet, an annoying phone call, or maybe an unexpected, ill-timed visitor at my door. Suddenly, my cheerful march becomes a somber dirge as I start losing my temper with my kids and feeling overwhelmed with the “catch up” I now must do. My confidence in me dissolves into a puddle of tears as I realize I’ve failed again.

My God is there. He gently reminds me that my confidence has been misplaced today. It’s not about my strength, but His. Jeremiah 17:7 says, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him” (NIV).

We were never meant to just go through the motions and to merely trust that the sun will rise in the morning. There is so much more to living this life when you have the true “sun” in your life. The son of God came to give us life! He came to give it to us abundantly (John 10:10). He came so that you and I could sing with expectation of what we can accomplish in Him today. When my confidence ceases to rest in myself and I begin to trust in Christ, I can meet the joys and the struggles of my day with confidence. It is “HE,” not me, that can meet my husband’s request. It is “HE,” not me, that can invite the ill-timed visitor in for a cup of tea. It is “HE,” not me, that patiently deals with my squabbling children. When I turn my will into His, He is faithful to give me the ability to sing these words,

I have confidence in sunshine

I have confidence in rain

I have confidence that spring will come again

Besides which you see I have confidence in “HE”

Joleen Steel is the curriculum specialist for Camping Stick Kids. She has a B.A. in elementary education. She taught public school for ten years before deciding to open her own music studio and homeschool her boys. Joleen is a pastor’s wife and grew up as a pastor’s kid. Her love for the good news of Jesus Christ flows out of her and into the camping stick kids curriculum. Her easy style and creative approach to teaching will encourage your student to learn the Gospel story and be able to share the good news with their friends and family. Joleen would love to have you visit the camping stick kids website and blog. Come say hi at www.campingstickkids.org