God Is Our Provider

If you’ve attended Sunday School, Young Life, a church or read through even a portion of the Bible, you’ve probably heard a few unusual Bible stories that made you scratch your head. One story that I have questions about happened to Abraham and his son Isaac. About 1,800 years before Jesus walked the earth, God gave Abraham and his wife Sarah a son. Abraham and Sarah could not conceive. In their old age “when they were nearly dead” Sarah conceived, and Isaac was born. Isaac was a miracle child. The story gets interesting and perplexing when Isaac was a young man. God instructs Abraham to take Isaac up on a nearby mountain and sacrifice him. Yep, you read that sentence correctly. Isaac carried the firewood up the mountain, while Abraham carried the fire. Isaac asked his dad where the animal for the sacrifice was and Abraham said Jehovah-Jirah, “The Lord will provide.” When they got far enough up the mountain, Abraham bound Isaac and prepared to kill him. At the last moment, God stopped him. In a nearby thicket there was a ram caught by his horns. I won’t try to explain what was going on. I can describe the event and details, but I struggle to make sense of what was going on. My list of questions would be substantial. I have way more questions than I have answers! But I do know one of the important lessons we can learn from this account. When Abraham found the ram in the thicket, he sacrificed it. Abraham named the place “Jehovah-Jirah” or “The Lord will provide.” Jehovah-Jirah is one of the important names of God. God was known as Jehovah-Jirah by the Israelites for 1,500 years and the name has been important to Jesus’ followers over the last 2,000 years. The Apostle Paul said: The “same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (NLT) Jehovah-Jirah. Jesus said: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33 (NLT) Jehovah-Jirah. God has been faithfully meeting the NEEDS of His followers since He created Adam and Eve. What is your NEED? He will provide. You can trust Him to meet your needs. Provision doesn’t always come the way we anticipate, expect, or want…but He WILL provide!