The Provider

Genesis 22 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, My father! And he said, Here am I , my son. He said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Abraham said, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son...And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns...So Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord will provide.

James 2 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness-and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

It is easy to say that I trust the Lord. It is another thing entirely to follow the Lord when I can't see the outcome or when it doesn't line up with my own personal plans.

I have always been fascinated with stories of people who have given up everything to share their faith and follow the Lord wherever He leads. As a young girl my mom bought me a copy of, Through gates of Splendor, the story of Jim Elliot and, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. I loved both of these books and I am still amazed at their courage and the depth of their commitment in times of real danger and even when faced with death.

I want to have faith like that but I just don't want to have it tested. I would just like to know it is there without having a trial by fire.

Many years ago I wrote down a list of things that I knew for certain that the Lord had promised me for my life and a list of things that were required of me to see those promises become a reality. Everything on that list is done except for the last two things. They are perhaps the two that require the most faith. The ones that I have longed for and feared. And for the first time in my life I am so close to seeing them become a reality. All that is needed is the faith of Abraham :)

The truth is, I don't entirely trust myself or put much faith in my own abilities. So I have placed my trust in the God of Abraham. I believe that He is a God who keep His promises and that He will bring to completion what He began in me.

Jude Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Father I have walked enough roads with you to trust You on this one. When I can't see the end, when I am afraid and when I don't trust myself-I will trust in You for I have found you to be faithful; not only the great giants of faith like Abraham and Corrie but to the least, like me.