God Provides

A week and a half ago, at the last minute, I was asked to teach the elementary-aged Sunday school at my church. As the kids are currently between curricula, I had to come up with the material for myself.

I chose the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac as my lesson–mostly for the sake of convenience. You see, I’m a true believer in gospel-centered teaching–and that story doesn’t require any work to get to the gospel-center.

Isaac was going to die. God provided a substitute. It’s as easy as that.

Even Abraham’s obedience can’t be simply taken as a moral to-do: “You should obey.” The point of Abraham’s obedience was faith displaying itself in action. Abraham believed that God would be faithful to His promise, therefore Abraham was able to trust God and be obedient to His direction.

So the story of Abraham and Isaac makes a nice text for a gospel-centered teacher.

Then, I was asked to teach for the next week.

I figured I’d just follow the chronology of Scripture. Isaac and Rebekah. Another story of God’s provision–this time of a wife for Isaac.

Abraham had a predicament. His family was all alone in the land of Canaan–and the only women around were godless Canaanites. His son Isaac is single, but he needs a wife if God’s promise that Abraham would be the father of a great nation was to be fulfilled. And Abraham can’t well send his son back to his homeland. He can’t risk Isaac not returning. After all, God had promised to give Abraham’s descendants this land–the land of Canaan.

Abraham sends his servant back to the land of his origin. The servant prays for provision–and God provides a wife for Isaac.

Abraham and his son Isaac had a need. God provided for their need in Rebekah.

The import of this story smacks me upside the head.

God provides.

Last week, we saw Him provide a lamb. This week He provides a spouse in a land without godly women. If I’d gone back a few stories, I’d have seen that God provided water for Hagar and Ishmael when they were in a waterless desert; God provided a son to the barren Sarah; God provided an escape for Lot from the doomed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

And here I am worrying about my career, about my future, distressed over the personal barrenness I (and even those around me) see in the city I’ll soon be relocating to. It looks to be a good move for me professionally. Personally, it feels like death to my dreams.

I’m Abraham saying “How can I have a son? I’m old.” I’m Sarah laughing that there might be room for the promise in my barren body. I’m Hagar laying down to die because I have no water. I’m Isaac asking where the sacrifice is, then staring in terror as my father restrains me and places me on the altar. I’m Abraham’s servant asking “But what if no woman is willing to come back with me to marry your son?”

And amidst my need, amidst my lack of faith, God provides.

Not one of His good promises will fail. My needs will never go unmet. God sees my every need and provides. First, He provides me with Himself–my ultimate, deepest need. But then He also provides me with every temporal thing He deems necessary to accomplish His good purposes through my life.

I intended to teach the gospel to some children through a couple of Old Testament stories. I ended preaching the gospel to myself through the same stories. For one truth permeates the pages of Scripture: I, we, all of humanity are desperately needy–and God provides for our needs in Christ Jesus.