Video link: The Danger of Self-Confidence Without God
The Danger of Self-Confidence Without God
(God must remain our source)
Main Scripture: Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Again in Proverbs 23:4 the Bible says: “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own wisdom.”
Our intellect is a tool, but God must remain our source. Our education can help us, our connections can help us, our experience can help us, but none of these can replace God.
Today, let us examine the consequences of depending on ourselves rather than depending on God.
1. WE MAY SUCCEED, BUT WITH GREAT TOIL AND STRUGGLE
Proverbs 23:4 warns us not to wear ourselves out in the pursuit of wealth or success. There is a difference between working and toiling.
God wants us to work. From the beginning, God placed humanity in the garden to cultivate and keep it. Work is not a curse.
When we acknowledge Him, our labor receives direction and meaning.
Psalm 127:1 says: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”
2. WE MAY FAIL TO GIVE GOD THE GLORY HE DESERVES
Numbers 16:28 says: “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own accord.”
Moses understood something important: what God accomplishes through us should never become an opportunity for us to take God's glory.
One of the greatest dangers of success is forgetting the One who made success possible.
Deuteronomy 8:11–14 warns Israel that when they became prosperous, their hearts could become proud and they could forget the Lord.
Beloved, our education is useful, but God gave us the ability to learn.
Our connections are useful, but God opened the doors.
Our wisdom is useful, but God is the source of wisdom.
Psalm 37:5 says: “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”
Let us never become so successful that we forget our Source.
If God gives us the victory, God must receive the glory!
3. WE OPEN OURSELVES TO A LIFE OF SPIRITUAL DEFEAT
Jeremiah 17:5 says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord.”
The problem is not that people help us. God can use people to bless us. The problem is when people become our ultimate source instead of God.
When our confidence shifts from God to human strength, our hearts begin moving away from Him.
Deuteronomy 28 reminds us that disobedience has consequences. We must therefore examine our lives and make sure that our confidence is rooted in obedience and dependence upon God.
4. WE LACK DIVINE HELP AND END UP FACING SHAME
Psalm 22:4–5 says: “Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You and were saved; they trusted in You and were not put to shame.”
There are battles that human strength cannot win. There are doors that intelligence cannot open.
We need God's help in our families, finances, work, ministry, relationships, health, communities, and spiritual lives.
When we trust God, we have a refuge.
Psalm 32:10 says: “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.”
When we stop trusting God and start depending entirely on ourselves, we can find ourselves carrying burdens we were never meant to carry.
But when we run to God, we discover that He is our refuge, our strength, our defender, and our provider.
5. WE LOSE THE DESIRE TO FAST AND PRAY
One of the clearest signs that we are depending on ourselves is that prayer becomes unnecessary to us.
When we think we have everything figured out, we stop seeking God.
We start making decisions according to our feelings and understanding.
But Ezra gives us a powerful example.
Ezra 8:21–23 says that Ezra proclaimed a fast so that the people could humble themselves before God and seek a safe journey.
The Bible says: “So we fasted and implored our God for this, and He listened to our entreaty.”
Prayer is not a sign of weakness. Prayer is an acknowledgment that God is our source.
6. WE CAN BECOME SLAVES TO THE THINGS WE PURSUE
Genesis 47:19, 23 describes how famine brought the Egyptians into severe dependency until they sold their land and themselves to Pharaoh.
Some people look successful outwardly but are prisoners inwardly.
Proverbs 28:20 says: “A faithful person will have abundant blessings, but one who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.”
God's blessings do not require us to destroy our souls to obtain them.
Jesus asked in Mark 8:36: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”
Beloved, we want God's blessing, not merely worldly success.
Proverbs 3:5–6 gives us the answer: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
We fast and pray because we know that our help comes from the Lord.
Psalm 121:1–2 declares: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from where comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Dr Lawi Mshana, +255712924234, Tanzania
