Confidence and Faith in Action
The Christian Professional Journal is here to offer faith-based insights and encouragement to help you navigate work and life with purpose. Together, we’ll explore how to keep Faith First, Excellence Always, as we grow and walk boldly in God’s calling.
Have you noticed how real confidence never stays still?
It moves us to act. The world may call it ambition, but Scripture calls it faith lived out. And nowhere do we see this more vividly than in the life of Paul.
His faith and confidence in Christ showed up in action. In how he spoke, how he endured, and how he lived. That’s what makes his story in Acts so compelling.
When Jesus met him on the road to Damascus, Paul’s life was turned upside down. He could have spent years in hiding, ashamed of his past. Instead, Acts 9 says he immediately went into the synagogues declaring that Jesus is the Son of God. Confidence in God’s call propelled him into action.
And when rejection came, as it did in Antioch (Acts 13), Paul and Barnabas didn’t retreat. They declared, “Since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’” That’s action born of genuine faith and confidence. Refusing to be paralyzed by people’s opinions.
How often do we shrink back when our words aren’t well received? Paul teaches us that confidence in what we believe in and faith in the gospel means we keep moving forward.
Even when opposition turned violent, Paul acted. In Lystra, Paul was stoned and left for dead, but when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe (Acts 14:19–20). That is extraordinary courage.
He was confident in God’s mission.
What do you do when life knocks you down? Do you stay down, or do you rise again with faith?
In Corinth, the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision: “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9–10). And Paul obeyed. He didn’t just believe God was with him. He acted on it by opening his mouth.
Confidence moves us from silence to speech, from hesitation to obedience.
In Acts 20, Paul confessed he didn’t know what awaited him in Jerusalem, only that chains and tribulation lay ahead. Yet he said, “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). His confidence and faith turned into action. He kept moving forward, even when the future was unclear. That kind of confidence is rare, but it’s what faith looks like in practice.
Even before rulers and kings, he testified boldly. In Acts 26, he stood before King Agrippa and spoke so persuasively that the king admitted, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28). Imagine the courage it takes to speak truth to power, not knowing the outcome. Paul’s faith compelled him to act.
And then there’s the storm in Acts 27. Everyone else was panicking, but Paul stood and declared, “Take heart, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me” (Acts 27:25). His words gave courage to weary sailors. But notice, he didn’t stop at speaking. He gave them instructions, encouraged them to eat, and helped guide the ship to safety. Confidence acts for the good of others.
Friend, biblical confidence is never idle. It believes God, and then it moves. It speaks, it endures, it steps into the unknown, it forgives, it leads. Like Paul, we are called to a confidence that expresses itself through faithful action.
Reflection
Where has God been calling you to act, but fear or hesitation has held you back?
What does confidence in Christ look like for you not just in belief, but in action this week?
Who around you needs to see your faith lived out, not just heard in words?
Prayer
Lord, thank You for Paul’s example of confidence and faith in action. Teach me not to settle for quiet belief alone but to step forward in faith. Give me courage to speak when You call me to speak, to endure when life knocks me down, and to act with compassion and boldness in every situation. Let my confidence in You show itself in the way I live. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
When I wrote “Sin the Great Joker”, I learned this lesson personally. It wasn’t enough to have the idea, or even the conviction—I had to act. I had to keep writing through discouragement, keep pushing forward through opposition, and trust God with the outcome. That’s what confidence in Him produces: perseverance that takes shape in action.
If the message of the book or this newsletter has spoken to you, I’d love to ask two things: would you prayerfully consider getting a copy if you haven’t already, and if you have, would you take a few minutes to write a heartfelt review on Amazon? Your words help others encounter the hope of the gospel.
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
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Praying His peace and blessings abound in your life.
