“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)

A familiar story in scripture is God’s challenge to Abrahm concerning the son of promise, Isaac. Fulfilling the promise of God to Abraham and Sarah, Isaac was born. The challenge is to sacrifice Isaac to God. While on the trip to the place of sacrifice, Isaac asked his father, “The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7) Abraham responded by saying, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:8) As they continue to travel, what is going through Abraham’s mind? The writer of Hebrews gives us an idea, “Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead.” Abraham believed God and now was demonstrating that belief. After God saw Abraham’s faith, He stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son. Then, Abraham saw a ram caught in a thicket. He now sacrifices the ram in the place of Isaac. Abraham called the place Jehovah-Jireh, which means God Provides, or even God Sees. Isaac, after being laid out as a sacrifice, views the provision from a completely different viewpoint.  God had stopped his death and provided a substitute for Isaac.

In reference to the event in Genesis God does provide and He does see the heart and the actions of the ones coming to worship in complete faith as he did Abraham. It could be said, God sees the need of one who comes to worship and will provide for the worshipers’ needs. Paul does remind us that “my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) Jesus, in teaching us to pray, reminds us that God knows our needs, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

The question for us is, do we believe God will meet our needs? Too often we have lots of wants which come from our own selfish motives. We ask for these and when God does not meet our wants, we say that God is unfaithful. We must remember that God is good, and is working all things for our good, and our wants may not be for our good. He does know what we need, and He is providing for us in giving us what we need. He is working in us so that what we ask for will be for our good and meet our needs. That is what God did with Abraham. Abraham knew that God and God alone would meet his need, because God is his need.

God’s meeting our needs all comes from our need of Him. If He meets our need of Him, He will meet all our needs. Paul says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Unlike Abraham, God did not stop the sacrifice of His Son. That sacrifice was the only way that He could meet our real need, which is from our wages of sin, death. God did also provide the lamb, “the lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) God has met our biggest need. He will meet all our needs when we are like Abraham and our faith is in God and we seek Him. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) God provides.

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block