You know the story (Genesis 22). God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his one and only son, as a burnt offering to the Lord. They go to the mountain and Isaac (not knowing what was about to go down) starts asking questions about where the lamb is for the offering. Abraham tells Isaac that God will provide the lamb. They continue to the top, built the alter and bound Isaac, placing him on the altar. Last minute an angel of the Lord tells him to stop and not hurt his son. It was a test of loyalty to see his willingness to sacrifice what he loved most. God was pleased and in turn blessed Abraham. God then provides a ram for he burn offering and Abraham and Isaac return home... happy ending. But what if there wasn't a happy ending?
If you notice in verse 8, Abraham says to Isaac, "God himself will provide the LAMB for the burnt offering, my son." But then in verse 13, "Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a RAM caught by its horns...." Abraham was promised a lamb but in that moment God provided a ram. I never really paid attention to this because Isaac lived and they had been provided for (like I said, happy ending). However, God could have still fulfilled his promise to Abraham and it would not have seemed like a happy ending. Years down the road, God would send a lamb to save all mankind (Jesus, which would fulfill the promise)... So that day, there on the mountain, with Isaac tied up and ready as an offering, God could have let Abraham go through with it. He could have sacrificed Isaac and returned home childless and God still would have provided just as he said. If that had been the outcome, would that place have still been called "The Lord provides"?
It is so difficult to get the call that your little sister that you said goodbye to less than 24 hours earlier (as you left the country for who knows how long) has just passed and call it "The Lord provides". It is so, incredibly hard to stand between the graves of your 8 month old sister and your 2 month old brother and call it "The Lord provides." It is nearly impossible to be outside a hospital, collapsed on the sidewalk, sobbing from the loss of the little girl you loved as your own and still call it "The Lord provides."
But not just in death. What about sicknesses? Diseases? Disabilities? What happens when you are called to a life of physical pain and difficulties and you just don't understand why the ram is not being provided? About 5 years ago, while doing physical therapy with Kimmie (my younger sister) and she told me, "Sometimes I wish I didn't have Cerebral Palsy, but if I didn't maybe I would not have been adopted by you guys and the family I would be with in Korea might not know Jesus." At (about) the age of 8 she understood that God has the ultimate plan in mind and because of that plan, He has chosen to not heal Kimmie. We have a home full of kids in Guatemala that have not been healed. I know countless individuals who are struggling with the difficulties of the life God has chosen for them, but in all things, the Lord provides. (I do want to make something very clear, each and every one of the individuals that I know have lives just as meaningful as anyone else's. I am in no way claiming that they are suffering through life with no purpose, God has just chosen to give each of as a different kind of difficulty)So this is what I want to leave you with, whether healed or struggling, whether you have a home full of kids or you are standing over a grave (or multiple) and feel as though there is no reason to keep going, whether he has provided the ram or has asked you to be content with only the Lamb... the truth has always been the same "The Lord provides", we just need to rely on him for the strength each step of the way.
