The man who was my spiritual father, whenever he faced any situation or circumstance, would pray this simple prayer to Jesus, “I can’t, but You never said I could; You can, and You always said You would.” He had learned to live by the adequacy of Jesus, and because of that, he had learned to live in life liberating confidence. People think that humility is a lack of confidence, when the truth is, pride is simply misdirected confidence. 2 Corinthians 3:4 – 5 says, “And such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of the new covenant…”
Paul talks about having confidence, but his confidence is toward God because of his union with Christ. He fully confesses that in himself, he is not adequate for anything, but his source of confidence is that his adequacy is from God. Often, when we are faced with a new task or new responsibilities or even new relationships, we are confronted with the feelings that we are either ill-equipped or simply inadequate to do it. It is very important for us to remember that the issue is never whether or not we are adequate or inadequate. The only issue, and the only question that needs to be asked “Is He adequate,” and if He is, then we can go forth in absolute confidence that He will be faithful to demonstrate His adequacy in whatever it is we are about to face. So you see, true humility is walking in absolute confidence, because my confidence is in the adequacy of Christ, and I can do all things in Christ Who strengthens me.