The LORD Will Provide

my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

So even when providence appears to completely contradict God's promises, we are called to trust God. Too often we doubt God as if some things are just too difficult for him to provide. But there is no circumstance that God cannot overcome. His word is sure. He has promised to provide for us and he will surely do it. We've established the certainty of God's provision. Let's now consider the nature of his provision. God provides surely, but he also provides perfectly. And that's our second point. God provides perfectly. Consider the provision itself. It was a ram that God had provided. And verse 13, right before this, tells us that Abraham sacrificed the ram instead of his son. Here, for the first time in the Bible, we see this idea of a substitutionary sacrifice becoming clear. The ram must die in the place of Isaac. And this is certainly a wonderful miracle of God's provision in and of itself. But even God's provision of this ram is ultimately foreshadowing his provision of his son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of our world. He is the one who is slain in the place of sinners as our sacrifice. On the cross, God has made the greatest, the most perfect provision possible for guilty sinners like you and I. And the provision God made in Christ had to be perfect, and it was. God's standard demands nothing less than perfect righteousness. But we have all sinned and fallen short of that standard. Yet the good news is that God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ is our once for all perfect sacrifice that everyone needs to atone for their sins before a holy God. We are completely unable to provide this on our own, but praise be to God that He has done it for us. We can look back to Calvary and say, on the mount of the Lord, it has been provided. So if you're here tonight and you're not a Christian, we receive the salvation that God has so mercifully provided to meet our greatest need. Will you repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ? But for those of us who are believers, the cross is not merely a memorial of God's past provision. Just as Abraham remembered Mount Moriah and called it the Lord will provide. So we too can look back at the cross and see God's pledge of his future provision as well. Romans 8.32 reminds us,

he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

God spared Isaac on Mount Moriah, but he did not spare his own son on the cross. And if God has provided for our greatest need, surely he will take care of every lesser one. The cross answers all doubts of God's provision. He may not provide in just the way you want, but he will see to it. He will provide perfectly as he knows best. Now, as we consider this truth that God provides perfectly, notice also the timing of his provision. He waited until what seemed like the very last moment, just before Abraham was about to kill Isaac. He provided that ram not one moment earlier and not one moment later. God provides when he sees fit, according to his sovereignty and wisdom. In Psalm 13, David cries out,

how long, oh Lord?

Have you ever felt that way? Have you cried out to God wondering when will he provide? When will he come to your help? If that is you, I know that God sees you and he will see to it. Trust in the Lord who provides in his perfect timing. Think about Abraham who waited 25 years for Isaac in his old age. Now think about Lazarus who had been in the tomb for four days before Jesus showed up. Think even of Christ himself, ascent when the fullness of time had come and dying at the right time for the ungodly. You may think God is running late, but make no mistake, he's right on time. We are often impatient. We wish that God would just provide for us right now. But God is far wiser than us. He knows what's best for us. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts far above our thoughts. God does provide at the perfect time, but He often waits in order to accomplish His good purposes. Perhaps to teach us to pray and wait upon him more earnestly. Perhaps to reveal to us our own weakness and dependence. Perhaps to display his infinite wisdom and power. On this side of eternity, we may not always know the reason, but whatever it may be, we can trust that the God who provides will do so perfectly at the right time. But as it was the case for Abraham, oftentimes God's provision comes to us most significantly in a time of trial or adversity. And that brings us to our final point. God provides to strengthen our faith. God provides to strengthen our faith. We know even before this test, Abraham was already a man of faith and someone who did trust in God. But this trial and the provision he saw God make in the midst of it grew that faith further and strengthened it. Listen to what the angel of the Lord says in verse 12.

Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God.

Now, this doesn't mean that God found something out or he learned something new from this test. He wasn't pacing around in heaven wondering whether Abraham truly feared him or what the outcome would be. He knew from the very outset, yet he purposely tested Abraham for his good, to prove the quality of his faith. And by providing, God vindicated that faith in him and strengthened it. And the same principle applies to us. God's Word tells us He will provide, and we do take Him at His Word. But our grasp of this truth is often strengthened most as we really experience God's provision in our lives. It is as we actually walk with God and see His hand of provision time and time again that our faith and confidence in Him grows. Each time God provides, He is confirming again to us the certainty of His promise. He wants us to trust him, but he knows that we're prone to doubt, prone to forget. And so how kind of him to not only assure us in his word, but to prove it to us over and over again, that we might remember his faithfulness. And for Abraham, this particular instance of God's provision was so significant that he gave the place a name. But in memorializing this place, how easy would it have been for him to pat himself on the back, to remember it as a place where he passed the test, where he proved himself faithful. And it's true, there was no greater proof of faith in Abraham's life. His faith and obedience were indeed remarkable and praiseworthy. And he named the place the Lord will provide. there is no mention of self. It was all about God, not about himself. Is that not the very essence of faith? Faith is looking away from self to God. It is forsaking all self-reliance and trusting alone in God. For Abraham, God's provision that day reminded him of his complete dependence on God to provide what he cannot provide on his own. And it further strengthened his faith as God showed him what that faith was looking forward to. Jesus tells us in John 8,

Abraham rejoiced to see my day, that he saw it and was glad.

So for us, as we consider all that God has provided, may our faith be strengthened just as Abraham's was. May we be able to say with great joy and confidence, the Lord will provide. And may we give thanks above all for the Lamb of God provided to take away our sins. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you and thank you that you are our God who provides. We pray that you would help us to trust you more. In Jesus' name, amen.