Ezekiel 25:1-17, 29:1-16, 30:20-26; Jeremiah 37:1-38:28

Where do you go for counsel? Where do you find your confidence? Who do you trust?

Israel had gone to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, for protection from the Babylonians. They had put their very lives in the hands of this great army, and felt secure in the power of the Egyptians to defeat their enemy.

God was not happy about that. In fact, He was about to show Israel how strong Egypt wasn’t. “Egypt will no longer be a source of confidence for the people of Israel but will be a reminder of their sin in turning to her for help. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.” (Ezekiel 29:16)

God was going to destroy Egypt. He was going to pull the rug out from under Israel. Then where would Israel be?

I think we could learn something from this, don’t you? In this day and age of self-empowerment and positive thinking, where people are told to believe in themselves and have confidence in their own power, God might be telling us to be prepared. He just might pull the rug out from under us, too.

God wants us to put our confidence in Him. Not ourselves. Not our spouses. Not our church. Not our good works. Him. Just Him. And He won’t be ok with being our back-up.

God can, and does, make sure we know He is the Sovereign Lord by destroying our sources of confidence outside of Himself. Even if He has to bring us to our knees.

Where do you go for confidence? I hope it’s not Oprah, or Joel Osteen, or some self-help guru telling you how wonderful you are. I pray your confidence is in God alone.

If you’re trusting anyone or anything else, be prepared to watch that thing destroyed right before your eyes. God wants you to trust Him. We need to trust Him.