In view of life’s difficult circumstances many of us must wonder from time to time whether or not God really cares for us or not. All of us have had perplexing situations that we have had to deal with. All of us have had needs which we have earnestly prayed over.
I want you to know this morning that GOD WILL PROVIDE!
We ask God to meet our needs and the needs of others. We seek for God’s provision in our lives. And sometimes we ask ourselves why isn’t God responding to us the way we want him to.
I want you to know this morning GOD WILL PROVIDE.
We ask ourselves:
∑ Is God really personally involved in my life?
∑ Did God merely create the universe, set it spinning off into space, and then just become involved in something else?
∑ Is he available to each one of us right now?
∑ Does God just know our needs or will he meet our needs too?
All of us perhaps have struggled with these kinds of questions in our lives.
But I want you to know that GOD WILL PROVIDE!
The Bible reveals God as our provider. On the pages of scripture, he is portrayed as the one who sees and cares for all of our needs.
GOD WILL PROVIDE!
He has the very hairs of our head numbered. He knows our frame, he remembers that we are just dust. We hear of his great concern for just a sparrow that falls to the ground. Take that concern and multiply it one hundred fold and that is just the beginning of his concern for you today.
I want you to know that GOD WILL PROVIDE!
The pages of scripture are abundant with stories of how God came through for his people time and time again.
∑ The 3 Hebrews delivered from a fiery furnace.
∑ Daniel delivered from the lion’s den.
∑ David delivered from Goliath.
∑ Gideon and the remnant delivered from the Midianites.
I want you to know that GOD WILL PROVIDE!
“But what about me?” you say. Can the great God of heaven really provide for me? Sometimes he doesn’t do things when I think they should be done. I’ve asked God for things that he hasn’t given me. I’ve prayed and apparently he hasn’t heard me, or at least, he hasn’t answered me yet. Will God come through for me?
I want you to know this morning that GOD WILL PROVIDE!
In Genesis chapter 22 it tells us the story of Abraham and God requesting him to sacrifice his only son whom he loved. The Bible says that God was testing him in verse one.
Genesis 22:2 - And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
I cannot imagine the feelings that Abraham must have felt as he heard the words of God that day and they began to sink into his mind and heart. This is my only son, the son whom I love. My heir - the son of promise. This is the son through whom the whole world would be blessed. And now the Lord was asking Abraham to give back to God that which God had given to him.
God placed his finger on the most valuable thing in his life and said I want it. Did Abraham love Isaac more than he loved God? Was that what the test was all about? Perhaps, but I believe it was more than that.
You see all through Abraham’s life God had been revealing himself as the God who will provide.
When God first spoke to Abraham he told him to leave his family and his home and go to a land that he would show him. Did Abraham obey? He did, partially. He left Ur of the Chaldees, but he took his father with him, settled in another place until his father died, and then proceeded on with his relative, Lot. Through all of this God was trying to teach Abraham to trust in him to provide.
God then promised Abraham an heir. But then waited for years without fulfilling the promise. Would Abraham trust God? He did, partially. But he also tried to help God fulfill his promise. He and his wife devised a scheme whereby Abraham would bring forth a son through Sarah’s handmaiden. Thus, Ishmael was born. But that was not the child of God’s promise. For God had said that he would bless Abraham and Sarah with a son. What was God doing? He was trying to get Abraham to trust Him completely to provide.
Now God was asking Abraham to trust him again. Give up the son that was an answer to your prayers. God was once again testing Abraham.
The scripture has this to say of Abraham in the book of Hebrews:
Hebrews 11:8 - By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
9 - By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
10 - For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 - Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
Hebrews 11:17 - By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.
18 - Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
19 - Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
Abraham had come to such a place in God that he trusted God to raise his son up from the dead again. He knew that God would provide somehow. It may not be the way I want him to but he will provide.
So Abraham took Isaac and his servants on a 3 day trip to Mount Moriah. At the foot of the mountain He told his servants “the lad and I are going to worship and will return again”. You can hear the faith in his statement - WE WILL RETURN AGAIN!!
As Abraham and Isaac proceeded up the mountain, Isaac inquires as to where the sacrifice is. We have the fire and we have the wood but where is the sacrifice? Abraham again speaks in faith and says “The Lord will provide himself a sacrifice”.
They prepared the alter and the wood and then Abraham bound Isaac and laid him down on the alter and prepared to plunge a knife into his son.
But The angel of the Lord spoke to Abraham at that instant and told him not to slay his son.
Genesis 22:12 - And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 - And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
And in verse 14 it says that Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will provide.
I want you to know this morning that he is still Jehovah-Jirah in this place today. He can still provide for you in the time of need. He is still the Lord our provider. GOD WILL PROVIDE!
Very quickly I am going to share with you the characteristics of God’s provision. The first one is:
THE RIGHT THING
God always provides the right thing. In this case it was a ram - it was precisely what Abraham needed. Abraham had been obedient and now God had provided that which he needed - nothing else would have been adequate.
Just like God provided what Abraham needed - God will provide what you need. He will provide the right thing. He is still Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord our provider. He will meet our deepest need for his greatest glory. The God who made us will take care of us. We will not lack for our needs to be met.
I want you to know that GOD WILL PROVIDE
Sometimes we are not to clear about what our needs are, though. We think we really need something when the fact of the matter is we just really “WANT” something. The Bible says that God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our hearts. He knows our minds. He is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He knows the real you. And you can be confident that he knows the right thing that you need.
You need to trust the all-wise God this morning that he will bring to your life that which you need. Don’t take matters into your own hands like Sarah and Abraham did in trying to solve God’s problem - but learn to trust him. It’s when we take matters into our own hands that we get into trouble and get out of the will of God.
He is Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord our provider. He is the one about whom the scripture says: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Not just ask or think but
∑ exceeding
∑ abundantly
∑ above
∑ all
There is nothing that God cannot do for you. GOD WILL PROVIDE.
There is another characteristic of God’s provision and it is this:
The Right Place
God not only provides the right thing for us but he provides it at just the right place. He provided a ram for Abraham, which was the right thing. But he also provided it at the right place - on the Mount of God. It was the appointed place of God’s provision.
Sometimes we miss the provision of God and the blessings of God because we are in the wrong place at the wrong time. And God sometimes has to let us go through some things to get us to the right place, so he can bless us.
Sometimes, because of various circumstances and situations in our lives, because of various difficulties and sins, our hearts can grow hard toward God. At times we come to the place where we are not willing to receive from the Lord, especially if he is trying to speak to us something we do not want to hear. We have placed ourselves back on the throne of our lives. We have exalted our opinions above the direction that God is trying to give. And when we find ourselves in that place God has to bring us to a far different place. Just as he did to the children of Israel when he brought them out of bondage in Egypt and into Canaan. He has to bring us out in order to bring us in. He has to deal with us to bring us to the place where we are willing to receive His provision for our lives.
God only blesses those who are open to his blessing. He will not force himself upon you. If you want to:
∑ go your own way
∑ do your own thing
∑ be your own boss
∑ trust your own bank account
∑ trust your own wisdom and intelligence
then he will let you do so. But all the while he is wanting to bring you to the right place to bless you with the right thing.
Matthew 6:33 - But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
If we put God first in our lives, then the scripture says that we will not want for food or drink or clothing because God will supply all of our needs. But we have to get to the right place and that place is where we are depending on God to be our provider.
I want you to know GOD WILL PROVIDE.
He will be:
∑ food hungry
∑ shelter cold
∑ doctor sick
∑ help trouble
∑ friend lonely
∑ peace storm
∑ hiding place calamities
∑ shield battle
Jesus Christ will be anything that you need. He will be your provider. He will be your all in all.
I want you to know this morning that
GOD WILL PROVIDE!!!
The last characteristic of God’s provision is:
The Right Time
God always provides just the right thing at just the right place at just the right time. If God would have waited a second longer Abraham would have plunged that knife into Isaac. It would have been too late. But God is never too late. We may wait too late sometimes but not so with God. But there is no “too late with God. He is never too busy to hear your call. He is never in a hurry that he cannot meet your need. But he is always right on time.
How many know this morning that he may not come when you want him but he is always right on time.
We may say God has not answered my prayer yet. Sometimes we fail to understand that God has not committed himself to our timetable. We need to understand that God knows just what he is doing. God’s ways are above our ways and his thoughts above our thoughts.
I want you to know GOD WILL PROVIDE.
What we need to see clearly is that God is working out his purpose in our lives. It is his plan for us that is important. God is not here to cater to us. But we are here to fulfill the will of God in our lives, and do fulfill his eternal plan.
The good news is not that we have a wonderful plan for our life and God is going to help us fulfill it. But God has a wonderful plan for us. He knows just what we need and just where we need it and just when we need it. He will never be late.
Our memory is so short sometimes. We forget what God has done for us yesterday. Many of us could testify this morning of the goodness of Jesus.
Bro. Bell - tree fell on him in the woods
Bob Bell - car accident
Bro. Mills - work, car
Bro. Vance - new job
He has provided:
∑ healing
∑ salvation
∑ peace
∑ financial blessing
But how soon we forget sometimes. Don’t forget today that he is Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord our Provider. He will come through for you!!
I want you to know this morning that GOD WILL PROVIDE!!!!
CLOSING
Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 - For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 - Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 - What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 - He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
35 - Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
37 - Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 - For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 - Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How could Paul make statements like these? Because he knew that GOD WOULD PROVIDE!!
We need to know this morning that God will provide for us. We need to boldly say like the scripture that “The lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.”
Go ahead and trust him with the needs of your life - I didn’t say wants, the things that we think we need - but what do we really need.
Philippians 4:19 - But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
I want you to know this morning that GOD WILL PROVIDE!!!!!
God will provide the right thing, at just the right place, at just the right time.
GOD WILL PROVIDE
