Part 1 – From Fear to Confidence
Leader Guide
There are not many areas of our lives where we don’t experience insecurity, if not outright fear. Maybe for you, it’s an insecurity about your abilities, personality, relationships, your finances, or your image. How can we move from those feelings of insecurity and fear towards confidence in God? How can we trust that He is always with us and working in our lives?
What you will need: A Bible or your Bible app, a notebook, pen, and highlighter. The verses highlighted below are linked so that you can easily access them during your study time.
Jump Start
Leader: This section is designed to get discussions started, examine God’s truth, and apply it to our week. Life Group leaders should not assume everyone in their group is a Christ follower. Because they are taking part in a Life Group, they must have some openness to knowing more, exploring. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work and let Him lead you as well.
1. In an intense situation, like an introduction to a new group of people or work environment, are you “okay,” “overly confident,” or a “wall flower”? Are there some areas where you are super confident and others where you feel very inadequate?
2. Read Exodus 2:23-25 for background. What is the problem that has come before God? Read Exodus 3:9-10. Who starts this amazing conversation and to whom is it directed? How do you feel about His surprising solution (verse10)?
Leader Note: The family of Joseph and Jacob, who moved to Egypt during the famine, have multiplied and become a great people. They are then enslaved by the fearful Egyptian rulers (Exodus 1). In the first passage above, the people cry out. God hears. God sees. God cares, and then He begins to act on their behalf. We learn of the birth of Moses and his early life (Exodus 2). He approaches Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3).
In the second passage above is the crux of the conversation, which God initiated, calling Moses over, telling him He has seen the problem, and “I am sending you.” This is not what any of us would expect. We would want God Himself to do something, do display His might. Which He ultimately does, but He shows His glory and power by empowering and enabling Moses.
3. Rest in God’s Presence. Read Exodus 3:11-12. What is Moses’ first response to God’s assignment? How is this like/unlike your typical response? What is the only good way to have confidence that you are able? How can you “fight” to stay focused on your Father?
Leader Note: Moses instantly says, “Not me! Who would/could expect this of me!” Is this you? Moses was focused on himself, his insecurity, his issues, and even disabilities instead of focusing on the God Who is able. This is flawed thinking that we all fall into. We focus on who we are (or aren’t) and what we have done (or not done) to determine if we can proceed. Lacking confidence that God can accomplish it based on my past performance is lacking faith and trust in God. Even the mess-ups in Moses’ past could not mess up God’s plan for him.
4. True confidence is not about who you are, it’s about Who is with you. Read Psalm 139:7-10 and Hebrews 4:16. David says what? Where and how can he escape God? Not only is God with you, but what does He also invite you to do in the Hebrew verse? In what areas of your life do you currently feel like God isn't with you?
Leader Note: David says if he flees (runs from God), He is still with David. If David cries out (ascends) to God in heaven, He is there. Fear, sin, calm, or the interference of others can never take away God’s presence, no matter what crisis you are facing or what impossible task you are called to accomplish. If you are lonely, God is your friend. If you are weak, He is your Strength, etc.
5. Embrace your calling. Read Exodus 4:10-13. Make a mental list of your “excuses.” Are they failures in your past, fears, deficiencies, or current sins? In other words, what makes you think: “God, I’m just not the right person!” What is God’s response to your own reasons?
Leader Note: Group discussion, but reminding your group that God uses imperfect people, and can do above and beyond anything we can imagine (Matthew 19:26).
6. Action Steps: How do we get moving this week on God’s assignments for us?
a. Stop comparing yourself to others. Read 2 Corinthians 10:12. Who or in what area do you deal with peer pressure or negative comparisons? What will you do to lessen this pressure and stop comparing?
b. Step into what God has for you. Read Ephesians 2:10. You, specifically, were created for certain tasks, even created for them. Is this encouraging or terrifying to you? Discuss the analogy of walking in the wrong pair of shoes.
Leader Note: The comparisons and peer pressure we allow into our lives make us try to fit into “the wrong pair of shoes.” Rather than fit in, we are custom made by God and He wants to use us. We are created for specific tasks and “shoes.” Possibly parenting, teaching, leading your family, serving on a team, or leading a Life Group. Challenge your group to consider the pair of shoes, the task right in front of them.
Deeper
Leader: This section is designed for further use in your Life Group or for personal study. These can also be used as discussion points and ways to stay connected with your group throughout the week. Encourage your group to take time daily to walk through these questions.
7. Read Exodus 3:7-11 and 14. What should Moses have heard from God in this passage? What adjectives would you use? Why is the “I AM” statement of God so important? How does this apply to your identity?
Leader’s Note: First, realize that your career, job, or duties are what you DO, not who you ARE. Moses saw a burning bush and heard God speaking to him directly. He should have heard God’s concern and care, and His plan for bringing the Israelites into a free and plentiful land. Yet Moses was focused on himself and how he would perform rather than on what God was able to do. God’s statement of His Name (I AM) is about no beginning or end, no change and no insecurity. Because God doesn’t change, we can trust His opinion and view of us!
8. We all have insecurities, but that doesn’t mean our insecurities have us. Read Exodus 3:12 and 4:11-12. How do these statements from the Great “I AM” give you confidence?
Leader’s Note: When we allow others’ voices to be louder than the voice of God, we allow them more power than our Creator. “What does God say about me?” is the question we must ask and judge all other “opinions” by. We have a choice whose voice we listen to. And we have God’s promise that He will be with us and bring to pass whatever He has revealed to us. He will give us the words or whatever gifts are needed for us to accomplish all He has called us to do and be.
9. Read 1 Peter 2:9-10. Who does God say you are now? List the most impactful descriptions as you apply them to your life.
Leader’s Note: a chosen one, a royal priest, part of a holy nation, God’s very own precious possession. Now called into the light and tasked with revealing that light to others. Now, we have received mercy!
10. Personal Study for the Week: Our confidence in God comes from knowing Him, His character, and His attributes. Confidence is not about you; it’s about Who God is! Faith is not how strongly we can believe, but is based on how confident we are in the God we are believing in. Review these verses and take notes for yourself on statements that God has made about Himself.
Exodus 3:14
John 8:58
John 8:12
John 13:19
John 8:24
Isaiah 41:4
Revelation 1:8
Colossians 1:13-18
John 10:30
John 1:14
Deuteronomy 32:39
Genesis 1:1
Revelation 22:16
1 John 5:20