"Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means 'the Lord will provide'). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: 'On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.'"
Genesis 22:13-14
Growing up takes a lot of faith.
I've been catapulted from the college, teenage world into the career, adult world over the last few months of being engaged. In four months, my fiancé and I will no longer live in dorms or our parents' homes as our peers do. We have to find a house to make our home, find a way to pay the bills, and figure out how to be a husband or wife. Needless to say, our physical and emotional resources are inadequate for the world's idea of "the good life."
When the above flashed on screen during worship last Sunday, my mom turned to me and said, "this verse is for you and Tim."
Of course it was. Tim and I may not have extravagant resources, but we serve a God who is sovereign over time, money, real estate, opportunity, careers, and the world. We serve a God who has no limitations, inadequacies, or weaknesses. How could I have allowed myself to depend on Tim and I's production rather than God's magnificent provision? Well, Tim and I's production was visible and predictable, while God's provision is unexplainable and unpredictable. That's where faith comes in.
"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."
Hebrews 11:1
I am the only person who can control my hope. Hope takes strength and resilience, because the world is controlled by an enemy who desires to steal, kill, and destroy any ounce of faith you have. The beauty of faith is the freedom and comfort it provides. When your future is based on your bank account, homes for sale, or the education you've obtained, you're limiting the hope you can have in Jesus. There's nothing that can stop God from radically providing in your life, but when you begin to expect God to move, your hope will bring joy and peace that worldly stability can't provide. God makes a way where there is no way. He takes our meager resources and multiplies them. The Lord desires us to have an abundant life, not a life crippled by worry and limitation. Jesus didn't give His life so that His people could be filled with anxiety, He gave His life so we could be VICTORIOUS. Your resources may be dried up, but the Lord has an oasis waiting for you. We have an assurance that the Lord loves us and will provide for us, all you have to do is trust His provision.
For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19
P.S: I'm taking a leap of faith with my blog very soon, and making some changes to magnify your experience here. Stay tuned for more updates and developments...
