Code of Confidence - Part 2

[00:00:05] Speaker A: I don't have an amazing intro for you this week. That's. I don't know if I ever do in your, in your assessment, but one of the things you're supposed to do is really have this power packed introduction to gather everyone's attention. I don't have that for you this week. All I can say is last week we talked about faith and trust and yes, confidence in God and to some degree in ourselves. And I told you that God requires that of us in many circumstances, that our confidence can actually be a demonstration of our trust in him, a belief that we can take steps of faith because God has proven faithful. Now, memorably, from last week, I hope memorably, we explored the idea of what if versus even if, the what ifs versus the even if the circumstances look one way or it appears that things are not going to work out the way I wanted them to or envisioned. Even if I take this step because I believe God is with me, I will take the step because I believe in God's ability and I have confidence in mine as a child of God. I even mentioned that in the Tubishvat seder, you know, I talked about how one of the things we celebrate at Tu Bishvat is that when you look out there, there's no leaves. Everything looks dead, but there's still something going on in the trees and the roots are nourishing and the SAP is coming up and the fruit will be produced. Even if it looks dreary and dry and dead out there, it's alive. And that to some degree is our story too. Sometimes things just don't look good. And all of those things are about, you know, trust in God, taking steps of action and nachshon. Remember nachshon from my message last year, which was the hero of the parting of the sea, the midrash. And we created our verb. We talked about that. Nachshoning it, you know, owning it in action. Even when everyone else is paralyzed, even the leader is not moving forward, you have the courage to step forward and to be the one who's willing to step into the sea. Okay? For nachshon, it was a literal sea. It was the sea of reeds for us. We encounter, I think, in life, many seas. And I would say that, thank God, most of them are certainly less dramatic than Nakshon's of life and death, literally, but they still represent things that we can either face or fear. And Lakhnakshon Ben Aminidav being confident to take the step lest. And this is one of my favorite Lines ever from any book. The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. We take the step, lest we forfeit the miracle. We learn about faith and trust and confidence. But here's the question. If we know these things, and we do know these things, this is basic. Everything I said, total basic. We know that God is trustworthy. We know that he often requires a step of faith before any major wins occur in our lives. Here's the question. Why do we not live that life at all times? Why is that not our de facto? Why do we often look from the sidelines at other confident people who take bold steps, who face the unknown, who tackle seemingly insurmountable things, obstacles, and they overcome them? Why do we watch? Or even more, why do we accept the things in our lives about ourselves that we know need to change, that we know if we just did that thing or took the step into that sea, the water could potentially part and we could walk through. And the answer to those questions really is pretty simple. It's not easy to hear, but much of what I've told you so far is spiritual. Faith, trust, belief. I don't love that word. There's really no meat to the word belief. Being a disciple is much more than what you believe. But practically speaking, for many of us, the reason that we stay where we are, the reason we don't step into seas, the reason we find every reason why something can't work or why we can't do something, it really has nothing to do with God. Does has to do with us. And the component of us that stops the progress is often a lack of confidence. Not in God. We have that all day. It's easy to say, I'm confident. In my God. No, in ourselves. And if we break it down even further, that lack of confidence comes from an even deeper place. Who knows the place where the lack of confidence comes from? Hint, it's the F word, not that one, but just as ugly, inappropriate and out of place. And that word is fear. False expectations appearing real. It's a combination of things, really. The things we tell ourselves about ourselves, the things we think about other people and their thoughts about us, the things we imagine will happen to us if something goes wrong, the imagined consequences of mistakes and failure. It's a whole mix of nasty ingredients that mix together for so many people that keeps them from stepping into much of anything. So this week we move from spiritual to practical, to move from the idea of faith and trust in God, which are muscles that we must always be working to build, not minimizing those, but to confidence in ourselves, and I mean every day of your life, but especially when you're standing at those proverbial seashores. First and foremost, we're gonna knock this right out of here. In a religious environment, when we talk about self confidence, there's a very important first step. You are going to eradicate from your way of thinking this false doctrine that tells us that being confident or having personal confidence is in some way ungodly or unscriptural or unfaithful, unbiblical. That it's prideful to think of yourself as confident. Worse yet, to act like it. This is a lie. There are aspects of confidence that when improperly understood by people, can be misapplied. Pride and haughtiness and our evil inclination takes that and morphs it into something ugly. We have to be on guard about that. But I can tell you with story upon story from my own life, the absolute paralyzing and detrimental effects of living a life without confidence. A lack of belief in yourself, a connection to a fear mindset versus an action one. And so I'm boldly and unabashedly, I'm going to confidently teach you about confidence. Last week we talked about Moses, and sometimes I get a bit of criticism when I seemingly throw Moses under the bus and do my imitation of him behind the rock, asking, I do it every year. I think. I never get tired of it. What do you want me to do, God, you can't talk badly about Moses. It's Moses. You can't do that. And they miss one of the absolute greatest aspects of the Torah. That Moses is so real, he's so relatable, he's so us. Even though he's Moses, he asks those questions, God, it's very difficult, what do you want me to do? Or, God, if you expect me to lead these people, then just kill me, dude. He says things like that. And he endears himself to us as a real person. Striking the rock twice because he's frustrated bearing the consequence of bad behavior. Anyone ever done that? Thank God I'm the perfect rabbi. I've taught you to be perfect. No one's ever borne the consequences of a bad decision. This is awesome. The stories of Moses failures are some of the stories that give me more faith and trust and confidence than anything else. It's such a testimony to tangible, practical life. And to our point today, just imagine his very real and relatable story as it relates to confidence. Today in this week's Torah portion, it's the giving of the ten words, the ten things, the ten Commandments. Moses goes up to the top of a mountain and meets God face to face and receives the commandments. And he brings them down and he instructs people, the Israelites. Wow, man. Bold, strong, confident. But surely you remember where their story started. It started also on the mountain with a whole lot less confidence. Now, Moses was tending the flock of Yitro. That's the Torah portion. This week. His father in law, priest of Midian, he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness. He came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There, the angel the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw through the bush that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. So he thought, I'll go over and see this strange sight. Why does the bush not burn up? When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush. Moses, Moses. And Moses said, here I am. Don't come any closer. God said, take off your sandals, for the place we're standing is holy ground. Then he said, I'm the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. At this, Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. Moses has come a long way, has he not? To ascend the mountain and stand in the shofar blast and the wind and the fire and the thunder. But this is where it started. And keep listening in chapter four when he says so. Now go. God speaking to Moses, I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. And the answer we would expect would be from Moses to God. Seriously? Awesome. Bring it on. Let's go. God. If God told you verbally that he was gonna send you to do something, wouldn't that be an encouragement, a confidence builder? It's like, man, how can I fail? Let's go. But that's not what we get from Moses. Of course, we all know the story of the burning bush and the argument that ensues. And there's this first monumental moment couched in Moses, first response that I want you to focus in on with me. But Moses said to God, Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? Now I want you to get this God saying, I'm sending you to do this. Here's the thing, Moses, go do it. That's the confidence you would need. And Moses response, who am I? Just hold that question in your mind for a minute. Similarly related question for you. Has anyone Ever been asked this question, who do you think you are? It's usually in a fight with somebody, just who the you think you are. But I want to make this point. We live in a world where confidence and achievement are not the norm. There are many, many, many people who accept mediocrity at best. Now, to be clear, there's nothing wrong with average. It's average for a reason. Do you know why? Cause that's how most people are. And you can't always be above average. I'm not saying there's something wrong with it. It's how most people are. But here's the problem related to that question of who do you think you are? That attitude of mediocrity, of settling, maybe settling it is contagious and transferable. And many people who live that way want you to live the same. And here's what I mean. You ever heard the analogy, the story, the illustration of the boiling pot of crabs? Hear this. Got a big pot of crabs here boiling, and one starts to climb out of the bucket or the pot, and all of a sudden all the other pinchers and crabs come out and they grab him and pull him back down into the water so that no one escapes. No crabs get out. The parallel in this crab mentality, it's called in human nature, is that when someone strives for growth or ambition or success, so many people, often out of jealousy or fear or insecurity, may try to hold them back. The clause, the clause of criticism, discouragement or even sabotage, in other words, to our example of average, it's not okay that they stay average or fearful or complacent. You need to stay that way as well. In other words, who do you think you are? Get back in this pot. Okay, great. So we can say we're not doing that. We're not going to let them drag us down. I'm no crab. Crabs aren't even kosher. I'm going to move forward with confidence and faith and trust and do great things for God and family and myself and those other people are asking or insinuating. Who do you think you are? Guess what? Okay, fine. You know where the real issue is? You know what? The real debilitating issue, the debilitating question. It's definitely an issue we worry about a lot, which is this thing about people and what they think. And I'll come back to that a minute. Here's the bigger question, the more damaging issue, and we do it to ourselves. We don't need anyone's assistance for this. The bigger problem is when we ask ourselves that question, who do I think I am? And for so many people, the answer is not very good. Moses, who am I that I should go and to Pharaoh? And who am I to think I can do that? Now, Judaism talks about that attitude in Moses as a benefit, that that's his supreme humility, that that's why God chose him, because he knew. But listen, when you read the interaction, I'm not disagreeing with that. It's a perspective. But when you read the interaction, it seems a bit different than humility, doesn't it? Honesty, honestly, it's like fear and uncertainty and a lack of confidence. That's more what it looks like, my friends, who am I to think I can do this or that? Who am I? That is the foundational component of paralysis and fear and lack of confidence. I'm not good enough. I don't have what it takes. I need more preparation. I don't have all my ducks in a row. I might make a mistake. I don't know how to do that. I've never done that before. What if I look stupid? Did Moses. No, of course he didn't. It's reasonable. After running away and hiding in Midian, you think he felt confident to take up the mantle of God and march into Pharaoh and say, hey, let him go, dude, of course not. Who am I to think I can do that? But here's the question God asks you. You ready for it? I think he asked us a different question. Who are you to think you can't do that? Who are you to think you can't do the thing. Whatever the thing is, who are you? The things that you know you need to do but are afraid to do. Maybe Moses question is so incredibly revealing. God has tasked him with the job. And Moses says, who am I? And God answers. He answers with a question we'd all love to hear. He just says, I'll be with you. That's about as good as an answer you could get. I'll be with you. But Moses presses further in. Moses says, suppose I go to the Israelites and I say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me. And they asked me, what's his name? What shall I tell them? God said to Moses, I am who I am. This is what you're to say to the Israelites, I am. Has sent me. I love that. Moses asks, who am I? And God says to his, what ifs? What if that. What if that? What if that? Who am I? He answers, I am who I am. That's one translation. It Works really well for right now. I am who I am. That's God's sacred name. All of his attributes rolled up into one mysteriously beautiful concept and name. But listen to me. We are created in his image. He is. I am who I am. And guess what? Hold on to your seats. So are you not in that way. Not as Ribbon Kol ha Olamim, the master of all created worlds. That's not what I mean. But I am created you to be who you are. You get it? That you, too, in an appropriate way, could also say to the question, who am I? I am. I am made me to be who I am. Who am I? That and another translation, the more Jewish one that says more accurately, I will be who I will be. That's what God's sacred name means, I will be who I will be. And guess what? That also applies to you. Not in that way. You're not God. That's not what I'm suggesting to you. But the very attributes that comprise his name make up a way for us to go through our lives as well. I am made me to be who I am, and I will be who I choose to be. Who am I to think I can't do that? God, in essence, says, you can do these things. I made you friends. So much in our lives is affected by the stories we tell ourselves. I talk about this a lot because I see it a lot. I talk to a lot of people with a lot of problems, and I see it a lot. The ongoing stories we tell ourselves, the patterns of thought, the what ifs versus the even ifs, the choices of where to focus your thoughts, positive or negative, your choice, paralysis or progress, your choice, step in or fall back, your choice. And speaking of stepping in, it's that process, that moment that defines your confidence in so many areas. The moment of choice when we cast off that fear, when we stop saying, what will they think? Moses asked the very question, what will they think about me? In other words, what if I fail? What if I look stupid? What if I mess up? And all of those questions center on something. I told you a minute ago that we're so concerned about it, the thing that blocks our willingness to confidently step out, what will they think? What if I mess up? Your precious reputation is what we guard with our lives. What will they think? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Of course you have. Probably out loud. I've asked myself that. And I know for certain that you felt the feeling also of being judged or laughed at or singled out or criticized. And that feeling takes up residents in your mind, and it works its way down to your heart and it lives there. And it has a very loud voice. And that voice is so loud that it speaks over the voice of potential that's trying to get your attention in your mind, but all you hear is, what if? What if? What will they think? What happens? And I'm sorry to have to go on, just go totally cliche on you here. For anyone who desires confidence but, like Moses, is fearful of what they might say or what they might think. Teddy's got the words. It's not the critic who counts. It's not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiant, who errs, who comes short again and again because there's no effort without error or shortcoming. But who does actually strive to do the deeds? Who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spins himself or herself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt. The man or woman who strives to do the deeds. God can't do the deeds for you. I'm sorry? It's the way it works. God can't do the deeds for you. That's up to you. And the more confidence you create, the more you're willing to do the deeds. Ironically, the confidence booster and the fear slayer, the fear killer, they're the same thing. You know what that thing is that boosts confidence and kills fear? Here's a demonstration. Remember this action step into it. It's the same thing. Boost confidence kills fear. Confidence is built. Fear is killed by shaking off those grabby pinchy claws and climbing up out of the bucket. And here's a really important equation. The more time you avoid doing what you know to be done, the more your confidence erodes, the more you run from the task. The first action step. Start building confidence. Killing fear. Action kills fear. And guess what? Here's the thing. What you thought was outside of that bucket may not look like that. You may take these big, bold action steps. You may have all the confidence in the world. You may do this thing and you get out of the bucket and you're like, oh, my gosh, now what? This isn't What I expected. Remember my illustration? Step into it. It's hard. I know that. I know that. But that's how action works. You take a step, then you take another step. And the steps don't necessarily get easier. There's plenty of stuff to deal with and figure out, but the more steps you take, the more confident you are to take next one. And that's the way it worked for Nachshon. That's the way it worked for Nachshon. He didn't just go bounding out into the water like he was, you know, frolicking on the beach. He didn't just walk up and stick his toe in and hope that the water was going to go. Do you know what he did? I know I looked. I know how I looked when I did that. It's fine. Do you know what he did? He stepped out. And here's the way the stepping went, I would imagine in up to his big toe, then his ankles with another step, and then up over the knees. And then nothing's happening. The waist, the torso, the chest, the neck, nothing's happening. And all the way up to his nose, at which point Nachshon says, from Psalm 69, Save me, O God, for the waters have reached my soul. And only then did the sea split. When the last bit of breath was literally cut off, only then did the waters move. And here's the important lesson. Ready? God rewards people who take action, but he doesn't always do it. On our timetable. You might find yourself up to your nostrils sometimes. And I'm sure Nachshon was hoping, you know, hey, like, okay, to the knees, maybe. At worst, like the belly button. Nope, to the nose. And only then. But I want to ask this question. Do you think he was listening to the gallery behind him? Do you think he was listening to the people saying, look, it's stupid over here. Who does he think he is? Because I'm willing to bet it was being said. Do you think he was listening to it? He may have been, I don't know. But it may have been in the back of his mind. Because what I know is that he didn't stop. No matter how big the bucket was. He kept on climbing, and no amount of pinching or grabbing was holding him back. Because I really doubt if he heard the words about the thing he was doing. You know why? Because he was too busy doing the thing. And that's what happens when you take action. You begin to care less about what's going on because you're in the arena. As Teddy said, Moses, as Another example, we know he, too, did the thing that had to be done. He's standing at the top of Mount Sinai this week. But you'll remember in Exodus 5, God. God says to Moses, okay, let me paraphrase. God says to Moses, you're gonna go do this thing. I don't wanna do it. You're gonna go do it. I don't wanna do it. He gets mad at him. You're gonna do it. Okay, I'm gonna do it. He goes, walks in, tells Pharaoh in chapter five, Listen, let my people go, man. And what does Pharaoh say? Who are you? Who do you think you are? And by the way, who do you think this God of yours is? That's what he says. Who is Adonai? That I should listen to his voice and let Israel go? I don't know, Adonai. And besides, I'm not going to do it. Who do you think you are? Okay. And then Moses could say, God, I did it. Let's get this thing done. And what happens? Pharaoh pulls the supplies, he stops the straw, and he doubles the work with no less quota. And now, I bet you Moses was actually worried about what the people thought, because they probably wanted him dead because now they had more work and less to do. And his big, bad, confident move, that's what it resulted in. And you know what Moses does? He goes to God and he complains about it. Why? Because I told you in the beginning, Moses is a lot like us. We're like him. And here's what he says. Adonai, why have you brought evil on these people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he's brought evil on these people. You've not delivered your people at all. That's the end of chapter five. And then chapter six, verse starts with my maybe favorite thing in the whole Torah. Probably not. But for right now, it is when chapter six says, now you'll see what I'm going to do to Pharaoh. Understand the timing, it's no different than nachshon. You got to go out there and be super uncomfortable and maybe even look stupid. And God sitting back, watching it happen, because he knows it's good for you, and he knows it's good for the people that you're going to impact. And he says, now, Moses. Now we're going to get this thing going. And he does. So that's the same story for Nakshon. God, the waters have reached my soul. Nakshon, now you're going to see. Now you're Going to see you're stepping into the man I made you to be. Last week we met Yael. Yael took a tent peg and drove it through the side of sisera's head in his tent. D'vora, the mighty woman, judge and prophetess. Male or female, it doesn't matter, my friends. Who am I? Who am I to think I can? Who are you to think you can't? That's the question God asks, I think. So this is it. And for anyone, by the way, who's concerned when I'm talking about being like God, I am and will be. Remember Exodus 7, what Hashem tells Moses? Then the lord said to Moses, see, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, not the great I am. I haven't made you me. I haven't given you supreme creative powers, but Moses, I've given you my attributes. I've given you so much to represent me. And after Moses asked that question, who am I? He steps into it, and I am who I am, made me to be. And I will be who he made me to be. Churchill. Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It's the courage to continue that counts, even in the face of failure and what they think or say, even if. Even if. So now, who do you think you are? Who do you think you are? I'll tell you. I am who I am, made me to be. And I will be what I choose to be. And in that, I have confidence. You know what? I know that some people may not resonate with messages like this and they may think I want to learn the Bible. Well, guess what? Great. I don't struggle with confidence. I'm quite confident. Well, first of all, I don't believe that for most people because there's always something that's a hindrance to them. But guess what? If that's you, great. There's a generation of kids who are so beaten down by lack of confidence. There are people you meet every day in your life who need to be encouraged and taught about who they're made to be and all that. So what if it's not for you? It's for somebody. So I think with this groundwork laid, I'll conclude. I think I'll conclude next week, though, with the most practical part of the message. As a matter of fact, you know what? I don't think I'm confident. I will conclude next week with something of value for you. Shabbat shalom. [00:36:10] Speaker B: I'm Darren with shalom. Macon. If you enjoyed this teaching, I want to ask you to take the next step. Start by making sure you subscribe to our channel. Next, make sure you hit the like button on this video so that others know it's worth their time to watch. Last head over to our website to learn more about Shalom Macon, explore other teachings and events, and if you're so inclined, contribute to the work that we're doing to further the Kingdom. [00:36:34] Speaker A: Them. [00:36:35] Speaker B: Thanks for watching and connecting with Shalom Macon.