Generous Provider, Come

It must have felt like a riddle he couldn’t quite solve. 

For two days, Abraham had been walking across the harsh middle eastern landscape with an unthinkable assignment and a heavy heart. Maybe he’d rehearsed all of the steps to obey what was required of him and wondered how the provision of God he’d experienced so profoundly could be reconciled with what came next. 

God had already promised to provide for Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 15:18–19). And Abraham believed Him (Romans 4:3). I imagine the kinds of questions he may have asked, wondering what form would God’s care take now—now that He’d asked Abraham to slaughter his own son. “Will He send an angel to stop me? Will He bring my boy back from the dead? Will He provide the peace I’ll need to live with what I’ve done?”

Then the third day came…“On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance” (Genesis 22:4). 

As father and son ascended the hill, Isaac wondered aloud, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (v.7). Where Isaac saw lack, Abraham spoke in faith, “God himself will provide…” (v.8). Abraham may not have known how he would be provided for, but he most certainly knew who would provide. When the God of the universe called, Abraham had a track record of responding in faith: “Here I am.”

God used the words of an angel and an entangled ram to meet Abraham’s needs that day. With a voice surely shaky with gratitude, Abraham named the mountain after what he’d seen God do. 

And Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide.
—Genesis 22:14 

God’s provision on that mountain with Abraham is a small version of the provision to come on a different mountain. The God who provided the sacrifice on Abraham’s mountain also sent His Son to Calvary. In Jesus, God provided the perfect solution for our sin problem. No ram caught in a thicket, but the Lamb of God sent to die for our sins. 

And again, the third day came…God provided fresh hope. The living Jesus, eager to see us join Him in resurrection life. Whether our needs seem teeny tiny or tremendous, we can draw a straight line from sin’s destruction to what Jesus has done. And when we don’t know how things will work out, we can still know who will provide a way for us, just as Romans says. 

He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?
—Romans 8:32 

What further proof do we need than the cross to recognize God’s perfect provision? When “what-if?” worries come (and they will), look to the mountain and thank the God who will always provide.