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There are many biblical accounts of people who acted in accordance with God’s commands even though circumstances would suggest that there were probably many who doubted their decisions. Some of the most well-known examples of this are when Noah built an ark even though it had never rained on the Earth (Gen. 6:9-22), when Joshua’s tactical battle plans commenced with walking around a walled city for 7 days (Joshua 6), and when Joseph remained committed to Mary even though she was pregnant with a child that was not biologically his (Mt. 1:18-25). However, one of my favorite examples of acting in faith in the face of doubt is found in I King 17:8-16. Previously in that chapter, the prophet Elijah had prophesized that there would be a drought, and that calamity had indeed occurred. The land, and its inhabitants, were hungry due to the lack of rain.

It is under these conditions that Elijah is called to travel to a new place and as he does, he encounters a widow who is preparing the last of her flour so her and her son can have a final meal. Because of the drought as well as the destitution that widows endured in that culture, she had little expectation that once this flour was used more would become available to her. She had resigned herself to the fact that she and her son would likely die; that this would be the last meal that they would ever have, together or individually. As she is preparing to make their food, Elijah comes across her path, and asks her first for some water and then for a morsel of bread. Because of the drought, Elijah had to know that water was a scarce commodity, and he does not appear to be surprised when she tells them that her food supply is woefully depleted as well. Yet, with the authority of God, he still makes this request of her, telling her that if she does what he asks, her and her son’s sustenance will be provided.

As a mom, it is hard for me to imagine the internal turmoil this woman must have faced. She has the choice of either providing for a well-regarded, but fully grown man, or of giving her young son what he needs. If Elijah’s words proved empty, she could anticipate watching her boy die a slow and gruesome death. A mother’s duty is to care for her child, and if she fulfilled Elijah’s request, she would seemingly be acting in direct opposition to her responsibilities as a mom. And yet, she recognized that while her motherly obligations were significant, her call to obey God was greater still. Even though it may have gone against every bit of her parental instinct, she took all she had to feed Elijah. She did this knowing that this act of sacrifice may have been at the expense of her child’s well-being, but that as much as her desire was to provide for her son, the love and care of her Heavenly Father were greater than her own. Even though she might not have been able to see a way to provide for her kid, she knew that God was able to do so. She acted in faith, giving what she had, trusting in God’s ability and faithfulness to give her all that she and her son would need.

In our lives there may be times that God calls us to step out in faith even though the situation is filled with reasons to doubt. God may call us to a new ministry, or a new city, or to trust in Him in the midst of a terrifying diagnosis or a season of great loss. Regardless of the particulars of the circumstances, when our hearts are tempted to give in to doubt, we can look to the trusting widow as an example of how to proceed in faith. We do not do what God has called us to do because it makes perfect sense to us; we do it because we trust Him more than our own inclinations, feelings, or abilities. Our faith is in Him, and He is greater than our circumstances, the difficulties of our situation, and our fear. When we love Him more than anything else and when doing what He says is our highest priority, we can faithfully do what He calls us to do, because whatever uncertainty our circumstance contains, we can always be certain of Him.

In recent years, one of the fast-growing sectors of consumer products has been in the area of personalization. In what would have seem unfathomable even a decade ago, we can customize and individualize things like never before. Not only can we get our initials monogrammed onto bath towels, but we can get brand-name jeans made exclusively for us, and shoes that were designed to our specifications. If you can think of it, you can probably get someone to create it – exactly as you desire. 

This ability to individualize and personalize can be great for businesses but can cause unrealistic expectations for people. The era of hyper-specialization can cause us to think that everything should be designed based on our desires. We want what we want and our aghast when we don’t get it. We have little patience for experiences that are not customized based on our preferences, priorities and proclivities. Not only do we live a “microwave society of wanting things cheap and fast,” we live in a culture of curated content – chosen specifically for us.

These increased expectations can even impact how we consider trials in our lives. Difficulties come and we think “I don’t deserve this” or “this wasn’t supposed to happen,” as if somehow the challenges that we encounter should be based on what we have done or who we are.  We tend to think that difficulties operate on a kind of quid pro quo basis – we get what we deserve. However, the Christian knows that we actually get far less than we deserve in this life. Our sin against God earns us the penalty of immediate and permanent death (Ro. 6:23), separation from Him for all eternity. Our trials shouldn’t seem to be more difficult than we think they should be; they are far less of a burden than what our guilt has incurred.

Yet, even mental assent to these truths can not be enough to fortify us against our discontent with the valleys of life.  One of the simplest yet most helpful statements I have ever heard about suffering came from a friend whose mother had died unexpectedly.  When discussing the seemingly endless amount of unhelpful statements and inadequate comparisons that people would make when trying to comfort her as she grieved, she expressed her understanding of what seemed to be their lack of awareness by saying “Pain is personal.” What she meant by this is that as much as we might sympathize with another person, we can’t fully experience their pain they are going through.  Comparing the loss of a parent to the loss of a pet may seem reasonable until you lose your own beloved mother. Pain is personal because as much as you try, you can’t fully walk in another person’s shoes. But pain is personal for another reason too; because the pain you experience, the suffering you go through, has come into your life under the sovereignty of your Heavenly Father whose love for you is greater than you can even imagine (Psalm 103:11-14). He chooses the cross that you bear. And when you walk the road of your personal Golgotha with the attitude of His Son – you honor Him. “Not my will but Your will be done” are the words our beloved Savior offered as He prepared to carry the cross that our Father had decreed for Him. May we do the same with the hills, and even the mountains, He places in front of us.

In a day and age where we can choose much about how we experience the world, it is unlikely that we will also get to pick the trials and tribulations we encounter. However, let us take confidence in the fact that the One who is sovereign over what transverses our paths, has designed and equipped us to encounter those difficulties in such a way that we honor Him. We may not get to design our own crosses, but we can honor our Designer by the manner in which we carry them.