The Lord Will Provide

The Lord Will Provide

“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”

“God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. . . .

Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the LORD will provide”).

Genesis 22:7-8, 13-14

Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

Romans 8:32

“But Mom, I neeeed it!” we plead when there’s something we really want. And if it’s something we really do need, most moms will do whatever it takes to provide it.

But even if Mom delivers what you think you need, your real provider always has been and always will be God. God sees what you need even before you know you need it, and he puts everything in place to provide it. That’s what Abraham discovered thousands of years ago. He had been instructed to sacrifice his son Isaac, whom he loved immensely, as a test of his love for God. But at just the last moment, God kept him from sacrificing his son. Abraham looked up and saw a ram provided by God to sacrifice in place of Isaac. In his gratitude, Abraham spoke a new name for God that day—Yahweh-Yireh—which means “the Lord will provide.”

The provision God made for Abraham that day was really just a preview of a greater provision God would make for every person of faith. In order to save Isaac, God provided a ram. But in order to save us, God provided himself—in the person of Jesus. And as Jesus suffered on the cross, he endured what Isaac avoided. Whereas Abraham went home with Isaac, God the Father turned away from his Son. This is God’s ultimate and most significant provision for us—an acceptable substitute who took on our sin and died in our place.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

Do you know people who are really generous? What kinds of things do they provide for other people?

What needs do you have that God has provided for?

What do you need to trust God to provide for you?