God Confidence Defined

If you are putting God first in your life, you will not find yourself laboring under undue anxiety about anything.

—Emmet Fox

Every moment is just as it should be, and each is an opportunity to enhance our connection with God.

The process works, and practice will assuredly produce results. What is God Confidence? It is several things, and there are maybe a few that it is not, but I will start with what it is.

God Confidence is faith, but more so it is faith in action, or actionable belief combined with emotion. The definition of faith is "a belief in that which cannot be seen or proven." God Confidence is certainly that, but the context of faith is more a tenet of religious practice rather than a daily or life exercise. The context of faith is one of a regimen or requirement for being a part of something. You believe in God, and therefore you demonstrate your faith by praying and trusting in God and his promise. And while it may be a matter of semantics, I'd say that God Confidence, or actionable belief combined with emotion, is a step further.

In God Confidence, your actions and emotions are controlled not by the events of the day or by blind trust, but by your personal relationship with God. This is a relationship forged by your internal perspective, and the plan and practice you've established around how you'll live. It is determined by your knowing the laws of the universe and how to apply and abide by them, and thus your emotions are centered in God Confidence.

Furthermore, you believe and exist in an acceptance that all your actions are guided by universal intelligence. You realize that you are a part of that one infinite being, and that your daily actions are in perfect harmony with the universe. These actions, while seemingly nonspiritual, are always, in all ways, connected to and a part of your spiritual being and your human experience. Part of the challenge is that we've always deemed daily life and spiritual life as separate. We work during the week, go to church on Sunday, and nary the two shall meet ... while in fact they meet all the time, but we're just not aware of it. Becoming aware of it is how we build a God Confident life. We begin by recognizing, accepting, and running with the idea that we are always connected, and we can do things in our daily lives that support and strengthen the connection with God and all other beings on our planet.

Something to consider in defining God Confidence is knowing versus acting. We may know a lot of things, but we often don't act on them. God Confidence means acting with the confidence of knowing, living, and doing in harmony, and in a deliberate and intentional manner. Thus, all of these "knowings" assume action and integration into our daily lives. The following are some examples of God Confident knowings:

Spiritual Knowings

• knowing the power of God is within you

• knowing you are right when you do all things in accordance with spiritual law

• knowing you don't need or want to judge everything and anything

• knowing what a powerful presence you are, just as you are

• knowing everything is and was a thought before it was a thing

• knowing that prayer/meditation/quiet time, or the like, is your time to talk and listen to God

• knowing that any time is your time to talk and listen to God

• knowing that the universe guides you

• knowing that you are a spiritual being always connected to the infinite, despite times when your awareness wanes

• knowing a smile is really one of the greatest gifts you can give to someone—and to yourself

• knowing there is always enough

Personal/Relationship Knowings

• knowing that others can be right, and you can let them be right

• knowing that everyone (including you) always tries their best at this particular moment in time

• knowing that while someone's best may not meet your expectations, you can still accept their actions

• knowing that your responsibilities to others are perfect for you at this point in time

• knowing that you can learn, seek advice, get help; that all are tools for you as you build your life

• knowing it really is your world, and everyone else is just living in it—what kind of world do you want?

• knowing you don't necessarily have to know the reason right now

• knowing that the timing of a circumstance or event is not always reasonable (Why did that have to happen now?), but it always has a reason

• knowing you are okay regardless of the circumstance and despite not knowing what the reason is ("Ours is not to reason why ...")

• knowing that acceptance of a thing is not defeat; it is, in fact, a victory

• knowing that you are in control and can choose kindness, love, joy, or humor at any time for any reason, as you are the reason for it all anyway

Activity/Material Knowings

• knowing you're exactly where you need to be at this moment

• knowing you can create your future

• knowing there is always time

• knowing we are all great in our own way, so find your way and relish it

• knowing no one else needs to know what our greatness is

• knowing it is all temporary, and because of this, any time could be our last moment, or our first moment

• knowing that every new beginning is some other beginning's end

• knowing that the more we practice, the better we become—at anything, including spiritual practices

• knowing the timing of the receipt of our desires and intentions is not exclusively ours to define

And finally,

• knowing that you know all of the things above and that you can act like you know them

The context of God Confidence is acting like you truly believe you are in control. There is a bigger presence than you at work, and the activation of that presence is a matter of choice by you. God Confidence is the faith, knowledge, and willingness to live your life by taking action and moving forward based on confidence. As Norman Vincent Peale once said, "Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy."

If I believe or have faith in something in the context of God Confidence, this means I'll do things throughout the day that engage, nurture, and support that belief, or more correctly, that feeling. You see, God Confidence is as much feeling, and working with that feeling, as it is anything else. Ester and Jerry Hicks have several books in which they share their conversations with Abraham (a spiritual collective) and note that emotions serve as our internal guidance system. This guidance system lets us know when the things we do and think are in harmony with spirit and bring us greater connection, or when they are out of sorts and disconnect us.

Thus God Confidence requires the action of faith to include a daily practice that includes awareness of our feelings as they are associated with specific actions and thoughts. Since this concept is so important, we will discuss it extensively in the chapters that follow. The rest of this book will focus on being aware of our feelings by understanding what it feels like when we're connected to and in relationship with God. Subsequently, we will explore finding practices to help us reach that feeling more often and also be more able to identify it, practice it, and thus make it a habit that establishes God Confidence.

A number of years ago my wife and I went on a trip to Bali. One day we rented a car and driver to explore the island. Our driver was a kind young gentleman who spoke English and provided us a wonderful tour. He took us to a number of spots, allowing us to stop and explore the temples, shops, and markets, and then took us safely back to the hotel. During our time with him, we were totally engrossed in the adventure of seeing a part of the world we'd never experienced before. We got a feel of the local flair by being guided to points of interest. It was a unique experience of having the chance to enjoy the day without worrying about schedule, where we were, how we were going to get to our next destination (or even what that specifically was), or how we were getting back. For our driver, I'm quite sure this was a routine, that he had regular spots that he took the tourists to, and that maybe there were even under-the-table deals with the woodcarvers and shop owners that he took us to see. Nonetheless, we were confident we were safe. We were getting to venture out a bit while never risking getting lost, as if we'd been on our own, and having some confidence that we were getting to see some measure of the real Bali. We thoroughly enjoyed the ancient temples, woodcarving shops, and village markets.

This guided tour for our day in Bali can be our everyday life with God Confidence. We have a guide each moment of our lives. The guide has the intent to help us experience our lives, enjoy ourselves and our surroundings, and keep us safe. When we live with God Confidence, we know we're being looked after with God as our guide. There is a grand itinerary for the day and for our life. We need not be concerned with the schedule, or how we're getting from point A to B, or even if it is actually point A to D. We simply enjoy, take in the world around us, support those we love, take joy in serving, make ourselves and others laugh, give thanks to others and to God, and stay engrossed in the moment without the past or future distracting us. The thing I remember most clearly about that day is the lack of fear or worry. That is not to say we were careless or oblivious to the goings-on around us, but the focus and attention was on the joy of the experience. I was truly experiencing my self and the activity of that day, not what was next or what had been. That is a liberating and powerful feeling, and we can experience it every day.

Taking a guided tour of Bali allowed us to see things we never would have seen otherwise. It gave us the courage to venture beyond the comforts of the hotel property, and it allowed us to experience that world without having to think in great detail about what to do.

God Confidence provides the ability (opportunity) to stay in the flow and the now by undergirding all our thoughts and actions in peaceful oneness with nature, spirit, and the universe—in God.

So many times we get so caught up in the philosophical questions about how the world works, why things happen, or in our need to find meaning and control that we end up spinning our wheels (replaying the past or the future), and breaking our connection and missing the now. God Confidence allows us to easily and effortlessly accept the world around us without judgment and struggle on how to explain it.

God Confidence means that even though things can happen (which they obviously do), you can know at your God level (or core self) that they are a part of you, your life, your essence, and your journey, and they need no explanation. There is not a desire to figure out what the message is, what the meaning is, or what you are to learn. With God Confidence, you simply encounter the event and continue on with gratitude and knowledge. Without this peace, one can spend a great deal of time struggling to find the meaning in life events, and the explanation of why people behave as they do. However, I've rarely heard anyone come up with a reason or explanation that makes the situation any better, or provides the person with any direction about how to do things differently in the future.

In most instances, all we experience is judgment about the event or people involved. This can turn into "analysis paralysis" as we wrestle with the not knowing and the inexplicability of certain happenings. We paralyze ourselves as we replay how events may have gone differently if only we would have said something different or if the other person would have responded differently, or if the timing would have been different—or a host of ifs, ands, buts, and ors. All the while the world around us is going by, and we've missed another sunrise or any number of special yet fleeting moments. Don't miss anything else! Live with the utmost care for yourself. Live with the keenest awareness of being a part of something larger, and the knowledge of the opportunity, joy, and gratitude that is in every moment. Live in God Confidence.

Only One God

Too many religions but only one god, I don't need another savior ...

—"I Don't Wanna Stop," Ozzy Osbourne

The Oz Man cometh, and he bringeth the truth.

Part of the modern challenge with establishing a relationship with God is our need to identify people and things with simple labels. This is so that we don't really have to understand a person or a thing, we just have to label them, and that tells us all we need to know. But that shortcut, while sometimes useful, too often crowds out someone's true essence. We've come to expect that one must identify oneself with a particular religion to be considered religious/ spiritual/chosen.

However, I find that religious doctrine and dogma is not required to be spiritual and God Confident. Many (including Ozzy) argue, and I agree, that there is but one God, just with different names and different paths all leading to the same ultimate.

I have taken elements from a number of sources to establish my spiritual beliefs and practices. I see relevant elements and practices in Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and the amalgam of New Thought. Some might say that means that I have no conviction or practice. However, I feel I've got conviction around the things that I believe, and I practice regularly to establish a personal relationship with God. From that standpoint I'm okay. I have beliefs and practices that bring me closer in my connection to the infinite. What is significant is not the label but the connection and direct personal experience.

The act of practice and devotion is the key. I was privileged to be able to hear one of the great American Buddhist masters, Lama Surya Das, speak and answer questions for an evening, and he made a comment that was extremely telling. In a discussion about the ways to Nirvana (or God), the Infinite, he noted that when we start to become overly rigid in our practice—whatever that might be—we start to run into more obstacles to our true connection, and we end up believing our path is the only path. He then went on to say that the path then becomes just another of the many only ways to God. How true. When I think back to my youth, much of the teaching about God was focused on the prescription for getting to heaven, and the only way to get there was by following the doctrines of a particular church.

As you see more of the world around you, you see a number of other paths. As each path begins its dogmatic narrowing to the only way to find God, our search turns from a personal connection to the divine into a rigid prescription for how to practice. It becomes exclusive of open, creative, and God-given thought, and turns into a rote practice of going to church at certain times, praying and meditating in certain ways and times, and following whatever doctrine the only way to God describes. While those practices and processes are not inherently poor choices, the typical progression is that those practices are monitored and managed (or at least clearly laid out specific requirements to get to heaven) by the church.

At this point organized religion can become less of a spiritual experience and more of a workaday process where we "punch the clock" of religion and then go back to our regular lives. Thus, we expect the church to take care of our spirituality, much as an employer takes care of our pay and insurance—as long as we punch the clock. How many of us go through the motions of church just like we do work (and unfortunately, many times, our lives in general)? While we might enjoy our work and do a good job, we know we have a "life" outside of work, and we go back to that at the end of the day and on the weekends and on vacation, and so on, forgetting (as best we can) the tasks back at work.

Religion can be the same way: We go to church but know that once it is over, we'll go back to our "life" outside of church and forget about the tasks of church work. We sit in the pew on Sunday playing our role as parishioner and thinking how good it feels and wishing there was some way to keep that feeling throughout the week. Then by Tuesday (if we're lucky; Sunday night if not), the warm glow of Sunday's spiritual encounter is lost in the fray of looming deadlines, family arguments, bills to pay, and taking the cat to the vet.

The main difference between church and work is that church—read: any religious practice—is usually limited to at best a few hours a week, maybe a couple on Sunday then another during the week. And so, when our religious prescription and process becomes the center point of our spiritual world, we've abdicated our spiritual responsibility. We've taken the responsibility for building and maintaining a spiritual relationship with God out of our hands and put it into the hands of the church. Organized religion is more than happy to do that, as this is what maintains their power and presence. For us, however, it is not very effective when it comes to truly establishing a personal relationship with God and allowing us to live our lives in God Confidence.