Confidence in oneself is not bad but overly confident in one’s ability disregarding the help of God could lead to pride. Certainly, we need to be confident in ourselves but we should be mindful not to become boastful. Whenever we accomplish a feat in life, we should be mindful to glorify God. Jesus told a parable of a rich man in Luke 12:16-19: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” On the face value, we can say that the man did nothing wrong. But, we see a reliance on himself and what he will do. His riches were of no value to any other than him. The Lord called this man a fool. Who you trust determines how far you can go. In fact, one of the basic challenges of the 21st century is trust. Couples do not trust one other, some believers do not trust in God, friends do not trust one another, nations do not trust one another. However, people have become susceptible to trusting in what they can do. Nations have relied on their military powers, technology has become the latest demigod and society has become part of a bigger movement towards self-gratification. We have all experienced at first hand how our best efforts have failed in securing us the best world. Pandemics, wars and tyranny have not ceased. In the height of enlightenment and globalization, we see nations rise against other nations while the whole world watches in disbelief. The best strong nations can do is to issue sanctions. Our strength and knowledge have failed to bring peace and tranquility to the world. So what can we do? Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalms 20:7) King David experienced different wars in his lifetime. He fought in many of these wars and there were times his life was at risk. Battles fought in David’s time, did not rely on the technology we have now. It was a hand to hand, saw and javelin, knife, archers, horses and chariots, warriors and strongman kind of battle. Therefore chariots and horses were very instrumental in these wars. In fact, most ancient kings had to pay a high price to get the best chariots and horses. Having the best chariots and horses did not guarantee victory. David noted that “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalms 20:7). In most times, victories from these ancient battles were not based on the best chariots and horses. Gideon, was an untrained warrior who defeated the Medianites army of 120,000 soldiers with just 300 men whose weapons were torches and jars (see Judges 7). The best way to defeat the enemies we face in life is to totally rely on God for victory.
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