God’s provision can be an easy topic to talk about, but a very difficult topic to apply. God’s providing for His people is a topic to which the Christian will often readily agree and say, “Yes, God will provide for my needs.” However, when the rubber meets the road and times of difficulty arise, trusting in this God Who provides ends up turning into a fear that He will not. One of the major difficulties that the American church and other first-world countries face in trusting in God to provide for their needs is that their faith is rarely tested in this area.
If a believer in a first-world country is sick, he simply goes to the hospital rather than getting on his knees and crying out to God. If a believer is hungry, he will simply open his fridge rather than plead with God for his daily bread. If this same believer finds that he wants or needs a certain item, he will often look at his bank account and find that he has enough to cover it. After this, he will comfortably drive down to the local store or order it on Amazon and get it in two days because he has Amazon Prime. This individual knows nothing of what it means to wrestle with God in prayer for his needs to be met.
Therein lies one of the great challenges that the modern church in various first-world countries faces in learning to trust in God’s provision. Times will come in which every believer will need to trust God for His provision. However, some have had much more practice with this aspect of the believer’s relationship with God.
Brother Andrew
Brother Andrew is a great man of God who started out his life pretty rough. In his younger years, he simply wanted to live an adventurous lifestyle. As a result, he joined the military, which puffed him up with pride. He was borderline crazy on the battlefield, at times rushing into combat wearing something that resembled a large farmer’s hat or sombrero. He wanted to stand out and be the craziest, but in the end, he was shot in the foot.
He actually wanted to go out in a blaze of glory and was not worried about dying on the battlefield. But getting shot in the foot was not exactly what he intended. This nearly crippled him for life, but God had other plans.
To fast forward many years later, this same man who loved adventure was used by God to smuggle Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. In his life, many miracles were performed by God to aid him on his journey and to keep him safe. With the amount of Bibles he smuggled into other countries, the authorities could have had him executed.
Nevertheless, Brother Andrew moved forward to provide those who were true followers of Christ with their only Bible. He would bring lay people and pastors Bibles because many people in the locations he visited did not have one. He linked up with pastors and other people who were willing to risk their livelihood to spread God’s Word.
Finally, a time comes in his story when he encountered a man who showed him something that radically changed his ministry. As this man was conversing with Brother Andrew, he proceeded to show him a family heirloom, a pocket Bible. This pocket Bible was much, much smaller than the other Bibles Brother Andrew had been carrying, but as he opened it up, he noticed that the writing in it was very legible and evenly spaced. It was at this point that he knew he was supposed to bring pocket Bibles with him rather than full-size Bibles.
As he went back home, he spoke to the various ministries that provided Bibles in mass quantities and was shut down by them all. He was forced to embrace the thought of getting them printed himself. However, this is where the challenge came for Brother Andrew. He heard that it would cost thousands of dollars to print the Bibles he wanted, and his faith failed him. His friends assured him that God would provide, but faith was hard to come by.
It was at this point when Brother Andrew becomes transparent with his readers yet again. He goes on to tell of the ways he could trust God in the little matters of life, such as toothpaste, but when it came to something like the Bibles, he just didn’t have faith. Nevertheless, God worked on his heart through the encouragement of his friends, and his faith began to grow. Obviously, God did provide, as He always does.
However, many Christians can find themselves in the shoes of Brother Andrew. It can be easy to trust in God for some things – the small things. But to trust in God for all things is a totally different matter. The question arises: Where does one look to gain a trust in God that does not waver? The only place to look to is the cross itself.
God’s greatest provision
Scripture says, “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” (Rom. 8:32). God wants the believer to look at His greatest provision and out of that believe that He will continue to provide for his needs.
This truth is illustrated in a popular Bible story in the Old Testament. This story is also one that is saturated with Christocentric messages. Christ is truly at the center of the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah.
As the story goes, Abraham decides to sacrifice his son, much like the Father chose to sacrifice Jesus. Abraham takes Isaac to Mount Moriah. This is the historic site upon which Solomon would later build a temple that would also be a location for the sacrifices of the people. Abraham is said to have saddled a donkey as he goes toward Mount Moriah. Possibly Isaac may have ridden on this donkey as well. Perhaps this gives a picture of the future day in which Jesus mounted a donkey to begin His ride toward Jerusalem just prior to His impending death.
As the two of them approach the mountain, the picture of Isaac is telling. In verse 2 of Genesis 22, it is said that Abraham laid the wood for the burnt offering on his son. This is a parallel to the wood of the cross being laid upon Jesus and Jesus’ having to carry the cross up Golgotha’s hill.
As the story continues to progress, verse 9 speaks of Isaac being bound on the altar. In this, there is no fight that is mentioned in the life of Isaac, but rather a willingness to submit to his father’s will. Once again, the parallels in the life of Jesus are obvious. Jesus was bound on the cross. He did not fight but rather submitted to His Father’s will.
At this point, Abraham raises his knife and begins to thrust it toward his son. The angel of the Lord cries out for Abraham to stop. Abraham lifts up his eyes, and there before him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns, seemingly forming a crown of thorns around his head.
After all of this, one of God’s most precious names is declared from the lips of Abraham. God is said to be Jehovah Jireh, “the Lord is my provider.”
Application
God provided in the most amazing of ways 2000 years ago on Calvary’s hill. God’s heart to provide for His people can be seen there with clarity. In this event, the nearest and dearest to the Father was given to man. How much more will the Father give us everything else we need? Trust in the Lord to provide. When your faith begins to fail, you can gain strength by looking at the cross. God gave His Son. He will take care of you in your present situation and provide for your lesser needs as well.
Final prayer
Father, I thank You for giving Jesus to me and for assuring me of Your love for me through the cross. Increase my faith and help me to believe that You will provide for whatever needs arise in my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.