OVERCONFIDENCE

DAY 22/366

2 Samuel 5:6 The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.”

Whenever a person speaks with what appears to be profound confidence, one of two things is true:

• 1. they have discovered a fool-proof way of getting whatever results they seek, or
• 2. they are speaking from a place of complete bliss, fueled by ignorance

The Jebusites fell into the second group for as they did not seem to know anything about David and the men in His army because to even dare to believe that the blind and lame could keep that army out was plain folly. It appeared their feats in battle had not reached the eyes of the Jebusites and it is in moments like this that one could say ‘ignorance is bliss’.

This army had men like Adino, the Eznite, who stood against 800 trained philistine soldiers and slaughtered them all in one battle, and  Eleazar, the Ahohite, who fought till his sword cleaved to his hand. It contained seasoned veterans of war who could break through an entire front line to get David water from a well (2 Sam 23). An army under the leadership of David, who walked with the Lord, the God of hosts.

The bliss of the Jebusites, sitting in their high chairs of ignorance, led to inaction and a false sense of safety. They lost their city as a result. Let us not get to a place where we become overconfident in our very own abilities to preserve us, instead, let our confidence be founded in God, and on His word and promises. Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Cor 10:12)

#sly