God Will Provide

Genesis 12:1-3

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Abraham was 75 years old when God called him to set out on this journey and leave home. Abram means "the father is exalted," but when God changed his name to Abraham, his name meant "father of a multitude," in keeping with the promise God told him (that of him would be a great nation).

Abraham is always remembered as a man who trusted God when many of us wouldn’t have. He had great faith. And as a result, God declared Abraham righteous (see Genesis 15:6). This is the first mention in the Bible that people are made right with God through faith as the sole means of salvation. So the story of Abraham, in many ways, is the story of redemption, and it all begins with God’s call to this patriarch.

But many times we don't feel like we have much faith or that our faith is weak, and therefore we may doubt our place with God (or God's presence with us). But know that Abraham - as great an example as he is - was also a flawed man. Abraham was impatient and didn't wait for God's timing of a child. He took matters into his own hands and had a child by his handmaiden.

Abraham also lied about his wife being his sister, not once but twice. Fearing for his life before Pharaoh, Abraham lied and asked his wife to lie also, which she did. And yet, God still kept His promises to Abraham and still declared him to be a man of righteousness. This is what makes salvation by grace through faith so amazing and yet so unbelievable! We are in awe that God would still accept us and count us "good" in His eyes, when we know our shortcomings and failures all too well. And so, we may feel like we have to "do better" to earn God's love and be worthy of God's grace. But then that wouldn't be not grace, would it? It tries to bypass the sacrifice God made on our behalf to free us from trying to work off our failures.

Like Abraham, just know "God will provide" for you. And He has! Jesus is your righteousness! So when you trust him - put faith in him - you too are counted good before God. And thus, you stand in line as one of Abraham's children - fulfilling that which God told Abraham nearly 4000 years ago!

Let us pray:

"God of the Living, who is not bound by death nor limited by nature, give us what we need to sustain and enlarge our faith, that even when we do not understand what is happening, we might still cling to you in faith, through Jesus Christ who with you and the Holy Spirit was and is and is to come. Amen."