My hunting has given way to fishing. At one time I actually did more fishing than hunting. But for the past several years it's been hard to keep me out of the woods. My fishing has its extremes. I love the thrill of landing a big bass but I also love the serenity (and table fare) of catching pan fish. Recently I fished in a local bass tournament. The competition adds to the excitement. It's in the blood of every American male. It's been so long since I bass fished consistently that I'm not able to keep up with the latest and hottest bait. I have to rely on friends who are not too concerned about me catching too many of their prized fish. My memories of this type of fishing go back to my early adult years. During those years it was a purple worm in the daylight hours and a black one at night. Crank baits and spinner baits were too expensive to purchase in numbers so I wormed. I figured if I couldn't catch a bass on a plastic worm it was simply because I had the wrong color. I'm still glad I learned that form of fishing. It's still one of the best ways to catch bass, but I'm sure one of the reasons that it is so effective for me is because I have confidence in it. Any fisherman knows what an important part confidence plays in fishing with a particular bait. If you have no confidence in what you're throwing you might as well be throwing a bare hook.
Confidence is important in all walks of life. It comes from knowledge and experience. In the case of my worm fishing, I must know that it's supposed to work and I must have experienced catching fish on it in the past. These two things bring me confidence for future trips. In the same way my knowledge and past experience with the Lord brings me confidence in Him for the future. I know He is able to take care of my circumstance and I have seen Him do it in the past. The Bible says, "Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward." What a coincidence, that this verse uses the word "cast." I guess the Lord wanted us fishermen to understand that the same confidence we put in a particular bait, we can put, in Him - and even more.