Unmet desires, needs, anxieties and worries have become part and parcel of our lives. We normally feel helpless when we run out of options that can help us deal with such challenges. Helplessness usually lead to depression. How we manage such situations depends on, in whom we are trusting. Thus, dependence on God alone will make all the difference. John Calvin said, “When the light of divine providence has once shone upon a godly man, he is then relieved and set free from the extreme anxiety and fear that were pressing him before, but from every care...Ignorance of providence is the ultimate misery”. Our thought for reflection this Wednesday morning is, “Our God Will Provide All That We Need To Live For His Glory”.
So Abraham called that place The Lord will provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided”
(Genesis 22:14)
God not only stopped Abraham from offering Isaac as a sacrifice, but instead provided a ram to offer as a burnt offering.
“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son”
(Genesis 22:13).
We learn two things about divine providence in Genesis 22:14
1. The Person who provides.
It was God who had asked Abraham to sacrifice a burnt offering on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:2). Earlier, when Isaac asked,
“where is the lamb for the burnt offering”, Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son”
(Genesis 22:8).
And later, it was the same “God himself” who provided a ram in place of Isaac to be offered as a burnt offering. Some may argue that it was sheer coincidence that the ram was caught by its horn in a thicket. But Abraham who always trusted in Jehovah Jireh, his provider, saw the ram as nothing but as His divine provision. Are we looking around or abroad for all our needs to be met? Let’s look above, for real provision or help comes only from above and not from abroad or around.
2. The Place from where the provision comes.
Abraham confidently declared,
“On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided”
(Genesis 22:14b).
Abraham’s reference to the mountain of the Lord reminds us of the hill called Calvary, where God the Father gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice in order to provide us Salvation. Thus, God the Father, who provided everything for our Salvation through Jesus Christ, will also provide all that we need for His glory.
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
(Romans 8:32).
Is it not true that our attempt to look around and abroad for help, has only resulted in disappointments and dejection? Thus, let’s begin this day with our eyes fixed on Calvary and our Jehovah Jireh, our divine provider who will never disappoint us. The Psalmist says,
“I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth”
(Psalms 121:1-2).
The more we trust in the provision of heaven, the less we worry over our needs and fear the calamities of the earth!
Blessed day!