It will be Provided

"Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD it will be provided" (Genesis 22:14).

My continued reading through the Book of Genesis brought me to this passage a couple days ago. The passage is not only well-known to many of us, but it mirrors what the Heavenly Father would do years later. The account shares how Abraham took his only son Isaac to a mount which the Lord showed him in order to offer his son as a sacrifice. All of this, to the astonishment of many readers, was in direct obedience to God's command. Many will want to debate how the God of the Bible, the God of the Christian faith, would instruct anyone to offer his or her son as a sacrifice to Him. Ironically, these same individuals usually fail to speak to the claim that this same God offered His own Son as a sacrifice for the sin of all the world.

Abraham obeyed. He took his son and followed the Lord. When they arrived at Mount Moriah, Abraham took Isaac alone, placed the wood upon him and they began the journey up the mount. Isaac, seeing the wood and the fire but no animal to sacrifice, inquired as to the whereabouts of the lamb. His father simply responded, "God will provide for Himself the lamb..."

Little did Isaac know that the lamb was to be him.

Little did Abraham know that the lamb would not be him.

God allowed Abraham to go almost the entire distance. He bound his son. He placed him on the altar and on top of the wood. He raised the knife to put his own son to death. Then came a shout from heaven. It wasn't a speaking voice from ground level. This voice boomed from above as it called out his name. The angel of the Lord informed Abraham that there was no need to go any further for the Lord knew by his obedience that he feared God and would do anything in obedience to the Lord's commands.

But the story doesn't stop there. For when Abraham raised his eyes, he noticed a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. God most certainly had provided. Abraham knew God would provide. He had told his son that very thing. Only when it had first mentioned it to Issac, Abraham believed the provision would be his son. Yet God provided another way. God provided through the ram which Abraham took and offered as a burnt offering (sorry to all you UNC fans). He provides and He provides right on time.

He didn't provide the ram before they left home. He didn't provide the ram after the knife had already pierced the body of his son Isaac. God provided what was needed, exactly when it was needed. That is seen even more vividly when we walk from the Old Testament to the New Testament and see the picture of the cross. According to Galatians 4:4-5, we read, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was sent when the fullness of time came. He didn't come early. He didn't come late. He came right on time. And He came for a specific reason.

He came for you and me, those who were under the Law that condemned us to death; that is, a spiritual death resulting in eternal separation from a Living, Holy, Gracious, Loving and Righteous God. He came to redeem us from that Law. He came to purchase us back or out from under that Law so that we might receive the adoption certificate signifying our rightful place in His family. It all was provided right on time through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God's Son.

The more I read in the Bible, the more I am convinced of God's perfect timing. I've held that belief for quite some time, but God keeps hammering that truth home. The more I read in the Bible, the more I am convicted to submit to God's perfect timing. He provided for Abraham. He provided for Daniel. He provided for Jonah. He provided for Moses and the children of Israel. He provided for Paul. He provided Peter. Why then do I get in such a hurry when I really ought to be living on His time and not mine?

Years ago Alabama had a hit song that sums up the way I often live (and maybe many others as well). The song says, "I'm in a hurry to get things done. Oh, I rush and rush until life's no fun. ll I really got to do is live and die. Oh, I'm in hurry and don't know why." While I would caution against getting any theology from country songs (or Rap, R & B, Pop, Rock or Heavy Metal), isn't it so true that even as believers we often get focused on the here and now of this life such that we hurry and rush, which can lead us to miss what God is doing in His time. God will provide in His time.

He will provide the job or the answer. He will provide the wife or the home. He will provide the money or the food. He will provide. As we pray and we trust, He will provide.

God provided an answer for us today. For some time now we've been waiting for a discharge so Micah could come home. Every time a conversation began about going home, fevers and white blood cell counts also began. Yesterday Micah underwent a CT Scan. As a result of the scan, the doctors discovered an abscess just behind the liver (not on the liver). An abscess is a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue on the basis of an infectious process (usually caused by bacteria or parasites) or other foreign materials (e.g. splinters or bullet wounds). Today, doctors placed Micah under general anesthesia in order to go in with a needle and remove the fluid to test it. This afternoon it was determined that the fluid or pus was infectious. It will take a couple days to determine the best antibiotic for him in order to treat the abscess. However, it appears that this was the cause of the fevers and white blood cell spikes.

Once the medication is determined, there may be a great possibility Micah (and Sarah) will be able to come home. We continue to pray for the infection to be gone and for him to be able to come home soon. We also pray for sustained health over the course of the next several weeks and months. Thank you for praying for him. The Lord has provided in so many ways, especially over the last 4 to 5 weeks. We are grateful for all of His many and wonderful provisions. I feel like Abraham. I think I'll plant a marker in the soil of my heart and mind that says, "The Lord will provide." Therefore, just as Abraham probably often thought back to that mount in the land of Moriah and how God provided, I don't want to ever look back at this time period in which the Lord has brought us and not say, "In that place, the Lord provided."

Amen.