“And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt-offering: so they went both of them together” (Genesis 22:8).
When Abraham was tested in the matter of offering his beloved son as a sacrifice, God finally provided a ram which could be used for the sacrifice in place of his son. As a result, Abraham named that place Jehovah-jireh, meaning “the Lord will provide” (Genesis 22:13,14).
Abraham learned a great lesson in this experience, having faith in God’s providing grace under the worst of circumstances. The God who created all things can surely provide anything to His children when they ask. This is the testimony of both the Old and New Testament.
He will provide the right person needed for any of His ministries. For example, when his people desired a king, God told Samuel: “I have provided me a king” and directed him to David (I Samuel 16:1). God also provides the necessities of life, even for the least of His creatures. “Who provideth for the raven his food?” was the rhetorical question God asked of Job. He surely, therefore, will supply the physical needs of His own people. “I will abundantly bless her [Zion’s] provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread” (Psalm 132:15).
More importantly, He satisfies our spiritual needs, especially for us in this present age of grace, “God having provided some better thing for us” (Hebrews 11:40). He provides us, for example, with “the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:19). Finally, we have the glorious promise of Philippians 4:19: “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Like Abraham and Isaac, we can go together to do God’s will, knowing by faith that God will always provide. HMM
