With 18 seconds left in the 2025 NCAA women’s hockey championship game, UW-Madison was down by one goal. When they were awarded a penalty shot, Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson (the legend from “Miracle on Ice”) asked, “Who wants it?”

Kirsten Simms’ hand shot up—and her shot went in, sending the game into overtime. Later, she scored another goal, winning the title for her team.

That’s the kind of confidence a coach wants in his players. And I’m pretty sure it’s the kind of confidence God wants in us.

If I’m honest, I’ve had some Kirsten Simms moments and some not-so-Kirsten Simms moments. When I hear I should be confident, I get tempted to think it’s more like a “believe in yourself” kind of confidence. If I’m honest again, I know my questions, insecurities, sins, and failings. I know I will inevitably let God, myself, and others down. Maybe you know that too. And that’s when we become kinda-sorta confident.

This is why you and I need the reminder not to be confident in ourselves but in the One who builds us back up when we miss the proverbial game-winning shots in our lives. We follow the God who encourages us to be honest about our lack of confidence—and who holds our shaking hands and hearts because he is “able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

As we realize that we have everything we need, we can be more than kinda-sorta confident. We can be absolutely confident, and here are just five examples to get us started:

• Confident in approaching God. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15,16).
• Confident God helps us. “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5,6).
• Confident in the future God has planned for us. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).
• Confident that God is faithful. “For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you” (Psalm 71:5,6).
• Confident in our eternal future. “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:13,14).

Now because we remember that our confidence is all about Jesus, who already took the winning shot for us, when God asks who wants to be on his team and use their gifts for his glory, our hands shoot up in the air.

Want to hear more about confidence in Jesus? Watch Pastor Mike’s message—“Jesus Can Give You Confidence.” And then check out Amber Albee Swenson’s book The Key to Confidence.

Linda Buxa is a writer and speaker who can’t get the song “I Have Confidence” from The Sound of Music out of her head.