“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Besides Jesus, most of us would probably say that the Apostle Paul had the strongest faith of anyone in the New Testament. And certainly, there were heroes of the faith in the Old Testament such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all the others listed in the Faith Hall of Fame (Hebrews 11). However, when we read their stories, we learn that they all experienced times when their faith was weak.

One of my favorite stories is about one of the most famous prophets in the Bible, Elijah. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah calls down fire from heaven in a showdown with the prophets of Baal.

“At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: ‘Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!’” (1 Kings 18:36-39).

Elijah exhibited great faith when going up against the most evil King Ahab and his 400 prophets of Baal, and God rewarded him with a miracle. You would think that Elijah would be filled with great confidence as a result. Yet when the wicked Queen Jezebel threatened him right after this miracle, “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life…he prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’”

Have you ever felt like that? Afraid. Had enough. Just can’t do this anymore. It’s just not worth it. Where do these feelings come from?

A clue to the answer to this question is in the question itself. Specifically, it’s the word “feelings.” Our feelings are an important component of our emotional health. God created us with emotions, and even Jesus wept. But we all know that our feelings are also changeable, we can’t really depend on them. I might be terribly upset immediately after hearing bad news, but the next day it won’t seem to matter so much.  The Bible tells us about the misleading nature of our feelings: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9). The Bible also tells us about the unpredictability of our feelings: “Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief (Proverbs 14:13). That said, human feelings can reveal spiritual truths and help us grow toward Christian maturity. Our emotions can expose our need for God, our dependency on Him, and the frailty of our human existence (2 Corinthians 12:7–10). 

So, understanding this about our feelings, what do we do when our faith is weak? Oddly enough, it’s the same thing we do when our faith is strong and we feel invincible, and for all the same reasons. Because we need to understand what faith is and where our faith lies. When I sit down in a chair, my faith is not in my proficiency in sitting. My faith is in the chair. We need to understand just who or what it is that we have faith in. If my faith is in myself and my abilities, I’ve been known to fail. If my faith is in others, they have been known to fail.  But if my faith is in Jesus, He is Trustworthy and True. Jesus never fails. His timing is perfect, and his Way is always the right way.

When Paul was feeling weak, he remembered God’s grace. Throughout Scriptures, time after time, we read about the power of God and how he always came through, just like with Elijah in the passage above. We need to remember these wonderful stories of God’s compassion, his grace, his might, his victories, and his promises. This is why Moses could write with all confidence:

“In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling” (Exodus 15:13).

Judy