OPINON —
I still remember getting on an Air Force C-17 in Kyrgyzstan and stepping onto Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan for the first time. By that point, I had spent a lot of time training, preparing, going over procedures and trying to anticipate what might happen once I arrived. There’s a certain confidence that comes with preparation, because you begin to feel like you know what to expect and what to do.
But there’s something about finally putting boots on the ground that changes things. All the training in the world can prepare you for a place, but it can’t completely prepare you for the feeling of actually being there. The sounds are different and the atmosphere is different, and suddenly the unknown is no longer something you’ve talked about in a classroom. It’s right in front of you. What had felt like confidence can quickly become uncertainty.
I think that’s very similar to what Jesus is trying to prepare His disciples for in John 16. These men had been walking with Him, listening to Him teach, watching Him perform miracles and even going out and doing some of those things themselves. They had seen more than most people could ever imagine seeing, and yet nothing they had witnessed was going to fully prepare them for what was about to happen.
Jesus knew that.
He knew Judas would betray Him. He knew Peter would deny Him. He knew the disciples would scatter. Most of all, He knew that His death was going to shake their confidence in ways they couldn’t yet understand. That’s why His words in John 16 are so important.
The disciples tell Jesus, “We believe that You came forth from God.” That sounds confident. They believe they understand who He is and where He came from. But Jesus immediately tells them that the hour is coming when they will scatter and leave Him alone. In other words, their confession was about to be tested.
Jesus doesn’t pretend that trouble isn’t coming. He doesn’t tell them everything will be easy because they believe in Him. Instead, He is honest with them about what lies ahead and then gives them something greater to hold onto.
“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” — John 16:33
That may be one of the most important truths we can remember when life becomes uncertain. Jesus never promised that faith would remove every struggle. He promised that struggle would never have the final word. There’s a big difference between having confidence in ourselves and having confidence in Christ. Confidence in ourselves is usually tied to preparation, experience, strength or familiarity. We feel secure when we think we know what’s coming and when we believe we can handle it. Christian confidence is different because it doesn’t depend on knowing every detail. It depends on knowing Jesus.
Years later, the writer of Hebrews tells Christians to “hold fast our confession.” By then, a lot had happened since the night Jesus spoke those words in John 16. Peter had stood boldly before the Sanhedrin. Stephen had stood before a hostile crowd. Philip had taken the gospel to places he probably never expected to go, and Paul and Silas had sung hymns from a jail cell.
They still faced uncertainty, suffering and opposition, but something had changed. They had seen the cross. They had seen the empty tomb. They had learned that when Jesus said He had overcome the world, He meant it.
That changes how we face our own seasons of uncertainty.
There are moments when life shakes what we thought we knew. A diagnosis comes. A relationship changes. A job disappears. A loved one dies. Something happens that we never planned for, and suddenly the confidence we once felt begins to fade. In those moments, faith is not pretending we aren’t afraid. Faith is holding fast to what we know about Jesus when everything around us feels uncertain.
Hebrews reminds us that Jesus understands our weakness and that we can come boldly to Him for mercy and grace. That doesn’t mean we approach Him arrogantly. It means we come with confidence because He already knows us, He already loves us and He already knows what we need.
Sometimes confidence isn’t knowing what comes next. Sometimes it’s simply knowing Who it is that’s going with you.
