“So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide.” Genesis 22:14a

Our theme this year, “Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord our Provider,” is taken from the Bible passage found in Genesis 22. It is sometimes translated, “The Lord will see it,” or “The Lord will provide,” or “The Lord will be seen.” I think that C. H. Spurgeon may have summarized it best in the following statement, “Our heavenly Father sees our need, and with divine foresight of love prepares the supply.”

The biblical story is most likely familiar to you. It tells of how God tested Abraham by asking him to take his son, his only son, whom he loved, and go to a mountain and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. What an amazing test of faith, and what a man of faith! The writer of the book of Hebrews states that Abraham had reasoned that God could raise the dead (Hebrews 11:19). This makes sense for how else could he reconcile the fact that God had made a promise to him regarding Isaac. God had never let him down and had always taken care of his situation no matter how difficult he himself had made it.

Have you ever thought about what Abraham must have felt during this ordeal? As a father, I can only imagine what he might have thought and felt. However, things are rarely seen as they truly are. Something I heard John Maxwell say recently was that “People don’t see things as they really are (the things, events, etc.), they see things as they are (in their person).” What an incredible statement. People have this problem of thinking that they see things objectively when in reality they see things through many different biases.

So what do you think God is asking of you this coming year? Is there some area in your life that He may be testing you? Some have a problem with thinking that God may be testing each of us. The Word tells us that God tested Abraham (Genesis 22:1), and it states that He never tempts us (James 1:13). It may sound like a fine line, but schoolteachers do not give tests to their students attempting to trick them in any way. Rather, the test serve as tools to reflect how much the student has learned. It is an immensely satisfying feeling to be asked, “How did you do on the big test?” and respond, “I aced it!” I believe that God always wants the best for us, and that He does not want us to be ruled by fear, but by faith. I look forward to what He has in store for us individually and as a community in the coming school year.

Thanks for reading.