Though human and therefore subject to the same shortcomings as all of us, she sought to live in obedience to God and placed a high value on His Word. Elisabeth went to be with the Lord just over a decade ago, in June 2015, but her voice – through her writings, teachings, and example – continues to echo in the hearts of Christians across generations.
More than just a missionary or writer, Elisabeth was a disciple, who showed what it looks like to trust God in every season – whether joyful or painful, visible or hidden.
Elisabeth obeyed God when it cost her deeply: staying in the mission field after her husband’s death, forgiving his killers, raising a daughter in the jungle, and later walking through more seasons of grief and uncertainty. She did not wait to “feel ready”. She simply obeyed. She didn’t just live a faithful life though – she called others to faithfulness and, in her writings, reminded fellow believers that obedience to God was not about earning His love – it was a response to it.
Her teaching was both bold and tender, urging her readers to hold fast to truth even when it was unpopular. Her writings, teachings, and example continue to echo in the hearts of Christians across generations with her body of work spanning over twenty books, each saturated with biblical truth, calling others to live with courage, conviction, and a view of suffering that is shaped by the cross. One such biblical truth which marked Elisabeth’s life was that she firmly believed that God’s purposes were higher than her own grief and she once stated: “Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.”[1]
Let’s now dig deeper into the biblical basis for her assertion by considering the following verses:
“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8).
And
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5–6).
God sees far beyond the limits of our understanding. His thoughts are higher, His ways are wiser, and His purposes are broader than anything we could imagine. As our Creator, He understands not only the world He has made, but the hearts He has formed and the paths each life must take. When life feels confusing or God’s direction seems unclear, this truth comforts us: we are not depending on our limited perspective, but on the wisdom of an all-knowing God.
This comforting truth then invites us into a posture of trust in response to that reality. Because God’s ways are higher than ours, we are freed from the pressure to rely solely on our own understanding. Instead, we are called to trust Him fully and acknowledge Him in every step. The promise is not that the path will always be easy or immediately understandable, but that God Himself will guide us along it.
A clear biblical example of someone whose life powerfully exemplifies this principle – that God’s ways are higher and best, even when they don’t make sense – is Abraham.
Abraham’s life is marked by obedience without full understanding. When God called him to leave his home, his security, and everything familiar, Abraham was given no detailed plan – only a promise.
“Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).
This call required Abraham to live out the truth of Proverbs 3:5,6 long before it was written. He trusted God without knowing where he was going, leaning not on his own understanding but on God’s faithfulness. From a human perspective, God’s instructions likely felt risky and unreasonable. Yet Abraham obeyed, believing that the God who called him was trustworthy.
Later, this trust was tested even more deeply when God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac – the very son through whom God’s promise was meant to be fulfilled (Genesis 22). This command must have seemed completely contradictory to everything God had said before. Yet Abraham trusted that God’s ways were higher than his own reasoning.
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out . . . not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).
Abraham’s life shows us that trusting God does not mean understanding every step – it means believing that God sees what we cannot see. His obedience was not blind faith, but confident faith in the character of God. Through Abraham’s story, we see that when we trust God’s higher ways, He is faithful to fulfill His promises in ways far greater than we could imagine.
What does this look like in our lives today?
Trusting that God’s ways are higher often unfolds in the ordinary pressures of everyday life. It may look like holding together schedules, responsibilities, relationships, and expectations, while quietly wondering if anything we are doing truly matters. Plans shift, prayers feel unanswered, and the path forward is not always clear. In those moments, God’s call to trust Him rather than lean on our own understanding becomes deeply personal.
We may have carefully planned our day, our week, even our future, only to have it interrupted by a child’s needs, a spouse’s stress, or responsibilities that feel endless and unseen. From our perspective, the detours can feel frustrating or even discouraging. Yet Scripture reminds us that God sees beyond the immediacy of the moment. His thoughts are higher, His purposes broader, and His work often hidden in the quiet faithfulness of daily obedience.
Choosing to trust God in these moments may mean releasing the pressure to control outcomes, and instead acknowledging Him in the midst of unfinished tasks and unmet expectations. It may look like offering patience when we feel depleted, choosing faith when we feel uncertain, or resting in God’s guidance when the way forward feels unclear. In doing so, we live out the promise that God will direct our paths – not always by changing our circumstances, but by shaping our hearts and strengthening our trust in Him.
This kind of trust does not remove the busyness of life, but it brings peace within it. When a person entrusts their plans, their time, and their limits to God, they discover that His ways truly are the best, not because they are easier, but because they are guided by His perfect wisdom, faithful care, and deep love for them.
The life of Elisabeth Elliot stands as a living testimony to the truth that God’s ways are higher – and always good, even when they are costly. She did not walk an easy path. Her obedience led her through loss, long seasons of loneliness, unanswered questions, and surrender that cut deep. Yet, again and again, she chose to trust the character of God when His purposes were hidden from view.
Like the busy person navigating the demands of daily life, Elisabeth learned that faith is not formed in extraordinary moments alone, but in the quiet, often unseen, decisions to obey God where we are. She understood that trusting God does not require full understanding – it requires a settled confidence that the One who leads us knows the way. Her oft-quoted conviction reflects this truth: “God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience.”[2]
Elisabeth’s life reminds us that surrender is not passive resignation, but active trust. It is choosing to acknowledge God in every step – whether in grief or in routine, in calling or in caregiving – believing that He is directing our paths even when the road feels uncertain. Her example invites us to lay down our need for control and rest in the wisdom of our Creator.
In the end, Elisabeth Elliot’s legacy points us back to the heart of Scripture itself: that when we trust the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding, we are placing our lives into the hands of a faithful God whose thoughts are higher, whose love is deeper, and whose ways will always lead us exactly where we need to be.
[1] https://bcworldview.org/faith-does-not-eliminate-questions-but-faith-knows-where-to-take-them.
[2] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/266310-god-is-god-because-he-is-god-he-is-worthy
