Lord, help me to seek Your will above my own;
so that I may receive Your provisions that are greater
than what I could ever imagine!
Focus of the Month: Promises, Promises
Ready or not…here it comes! The New Year has arrived and with it comes new possibilities, opportunities, adventures…wait is this my life I am talking about? Don’t those things only come to the highly motivated, goal setting, and resolution keeping kind of women? That is what I used to tell myself when January rolled around. At times, I gave up before I even started. If I could just stay focused on my goals then I could achieve all I needed; even all I wanted! The only problem – I was counting on myself to do it all.
So why will this New Year be different?
Last week we shared, “instead of focusing upon our shortcomings and weaknesses, and setting our goals from a place of lack and defeat, let’s renew our minds as to who we are in Christ, see ourselves through His promises, and allow our imperfections to be perfected through the finished work of the Cross.” How Awesome is our God! How great are His promises! How beautiful is His Name! Through the Cross, He has already provided what we truly need. So for my New Year, I am looking to the LORD as my provider, not myself.
My Jehovah-Jireh (The Lord will Provide)
In the book of Genesis God is revealed by this name when we learn about Abraham and Sarah. God completed a promise to them by providing a son they had longed for. When Isaac got a little older God requested that Abraham present Isaac as a sacrifice offering. Wait – What? Why would God ask this of Abraham after fulfilling this life-long desire of his? Although we don’t get an answer directly, it is implied that Abraham’s faith was tested. In fact, it isn’t written in Scripture that Abraham even argued with God. He got up early the next morning, cut the wood for the burnt offering, (his own son), and headed to the Mount where God told him to go. In the best case scenario I see myself putting up some kind of a fight here…
Spoiler alert: God stops Abraham from sacrificing Isaac at the very last moment, as Abraham’s hands are on the knife and Isaac is on the altar with the wood upon his chest. Isaac is spared. And then Abraham is blessed beyond measure for his obedience and trust in God. Because Abraham did not withhold his son, the Lord provided a different sacrifice.
“And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”…” Genesis 22:13-14 (ESV)
Don’t miss the connection of this amazing Biblical account to the very account of Jesus at Calvary. He too was to be a sacrifice for His Father, the Almighty God. The difference is God allowed this sacrifice to be made. When Jesus died on the cross we would be saved. Given the ultimate of provision — eternity!
What are we withholding from God? What is it that God will provide us when we release all we have, and all we are to Him? I’ve longed for things, prayed for circumstances to change, I have begged at times. In my heart, I know surrendering is the way to provision and freedom, yet I hold on with tight fists to what I believe I need or want. God is faithful. When we put ourselves aside and ask for His Will to be done…the provision comes in an astounding way.
Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide.
Holding Fast to Hope,
Jen
Scripture References here. Genesis 22:13-14
