The Lord Will Provide

The Lord Will Provide

Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering on the altar in place of his son. Abraham named the place “The Lord will provide”—Jehovah Jireh.                (Gen. 22:13-14NLT)

Abraham and his son, Isaac, along with two servants and all their supplies left early one morning for a distant mountain to offer a sacrifice in worship of the LORD. As the two of them went on together, Isaac said, “Father?” “Yes, my son,” Abraham replied. “We have the wood and the fire,” said the boy, “but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” “God will provide a lamb my son,” Abraham answered. And they both went on together. (Gen. 22:6b-8 NLT)

   I remember my first mission trip to Peru with Wycliffe Associates. We formed a team and took all the supplies we would need to minister to the children of Bible translators for a week while they participated in their annual conference. Like Abraham and his son, Isaac, it was a venture of faith.

   Abraham’s experience was such an example of faith that it recorded for all to see by the writer of the book of Hebrews, “It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promise, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, though God had promised him, ‘Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.’” (Heb. 11:17-18 NLT)

   God often uses trials to test our faith. Not as a means of discovering if have faith, but rather to strengthen it. We are told in James 1:2-3, “Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” Faith that is not tested is not real faith.

   Like Abraham, when our faith is tested we are assured that “The Lord will provide.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me be like your servant Abraham and trust you in the midst of testing and trial.