I’m sure you’ve been there: That moment of decision when you weigh the risk versus the reward or the cost versus the benefit to determine what you will do.
These moments may come in regard to something simple like whether to eat one more helping of mashed potatoes, if it is worth it to take a detour to try and avoid traffic on your way to the grocery store, or if it is the right time to buy that new pair of shoes.
We may also face moments of discernment on much more significant questions: Do you take the new job opportunity that would relocate you and your family? Should you laugh at a colleague’s derogatory joke? Should you obey God even if it is costly or uncommon among the culture?
These major points of decision require a degree of confidence and conviction. The question is not if we have confidence or conviction, but what our confidence is in and where our conviction comes from.
In Daniel 1, Daniel has a deep confidence in the Lord and a conviction derived from the same. Psalm 71:4-5 models the pattern that I imagine Daniel progressed through in determining what to do in this moment of decision: “Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive. For you are my hope, Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth.”
The psalmist displays a deep confidence in the Lord to rescue and a deep conviction to remain hopeful and faithful. This confidence and conviction propel him toward a God-honoring response to his circumstances and direction in his decision making.
May this be our mode of decision making as well in all things, where our confidence in the Lord propels us forward and our conviction from the Lord steers our direction for His glory and our joy
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