God Will Provide

At the beginning of every new year, I spend time with God in prayer and ask Him to give me a word for the year. My one word for the year 2025 is Provide. God wants me to trust him to provide for me and my children no matter what difficulties we may face. He is our provider God. As I’ve thought about this word, one passage of scripture keeps coming to mind. Genesis 22. The story of Abraham and Isaac.  

Genesis 22:6-18

As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

I have read this passage of scripture many times and have heard multiple sermons on this story. Often times we read this passage with the question, what do I need to sacrifice to God today? This is not a bad question to ask. But I would like to look at this passage of scripture from a different perspective. Rather than focus on Abraham I would like to focus on God.

Abraham’s faith was in fact amazing and what he was willing to sacrifice to God in bold trust goes beyond our own human understanding. But what if we take a moment to really study God in this passage. Sacrificing Isaac wasn’t Abraham’s idea, it was God’s idea. And although it was originally God’s idea, God did not take or receive Isaac as a sacrifice. So, what if the big picture of this story isn’t so much about what we need to sacrifice to God but rather are we willing to trust God to provide what we need?

As we enter a new year, it is good to sacrifice bad habits and begin new ones. There is nothing wrong with setting healthy goals for yourself. But I want to challenge you and challenge myself to look to God first. There is only so much we ourselves can do, for without God we can do nothing.

What does Genesis 22 say about God? And how do you see God working as a provider for your life now? Do you trust God to provide for you this new year?

Let us acknowledge the Lord;
    let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
    he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
    like the spring rains that water the earth.

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
    and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

-Hosea 6:3,6

If I focus first on what I think I need to sacrifice to Lord in order to make him happy than my focus is on the wrong thing because I cannot earn my father’s love with my own human ideas and actions. But if I focus on God first and what He desires, than my faith grows stronger because I am no longer depending on myself. Rather I am putting my trust in the one who knows what I need and provides the very best for my heart.

God is my provider, and He is yours too! You can trust God to provide exactly what you need in this new year.