The Lord Will Provide
by Emily Kramer
“So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day, it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided”
Genesis 22:14
When I was expecting my third child, I read a book called Radical by David Platt. He tells of how he challenged his church to do radical things as God called them—some sold houses and gave the money to missions, some left high-paying jobs to join the mission field, etc. The stories of what God did in a through that body of believers are amazing and encouraging, but as I read them with a group of mostly well-to-do, classy Christian women, the conversations weren’t what I expected. While they seemed open to the idea that sometimes, for some people, God would ask these things, when it came to making it a personal discussion and asking hard questions of ourselves, the room was largely silent.
I even sensed a feeling of defensiveness—just because I don’t sell my lovely, expensive house and give the money away doesn’t mean I’m not doing what God wants. As some of the women seemed to be upset by this line of discussion, I felt I needed to speak. Though I was nervous (most of the women in the room were older and certainly wiser than I was), I said something along the lines of, “I think what he’s trying to get at is to ask ourselves, ‘is there anything God might ask me to give up that I would not be willing to?’ It may be a house, a car, a relationship…I think even now of how much I love the baby growing inside of me. Would I be able to give him or her up if God asked me to? Isaac was God’s precious and promised gift to Abraham, but He asked Abraham to be willing to sacrifice Isaac on an altar.” One woman spoke up quickly and firmly, “But God would never ask you to do that! That was an Old Testament story, and God would never ask someone now to do that!”
I quietly went back to listening to these women explain how God gives us gifts, and He doesn’t expect us to give up everything just because someone else did. While I agreed with that in part, I left that day with an unsettled spirit. I prayed that God would show me if there were things I was unwilling to give up for Him and give me the wisdom and courage to give whatever He asked of me. In some ways, I thought I already had. I never wanted to be a military spouse after growing up a military brat, but there I was, living 2,000 miles away from my family, raising children with a husband who deployed. I was pretty sure I’d be willing to give up what God asked me to, but there was so much conviction in what I read, I figured it had to be preparing me for something else.
Less than four years later, that “something else” had me on my knees like never before. I’d watched my son have seizures over and over in the hospital, hooked up to all kinds of cords and monitors, the medical staff working on him just as helpless as I was to stop his seizures and make him well. In one of those moments, in my mind the picture of the hospital bed changed. I saw an altar, and on it was my Precious Son. I realized then what God was preparing me for years earlier. Would I be able to watch my son, helpless and hurting, and still trust that God is good? Would I be able to continually lay my son before God, trusting that healing on this earth may never come? Would I be able to open my mouth and thank the Lord for my son, this gift, this suffering that would allow us to draw closer to Him? When seizures wouldn’t stop, when medication made sleep impossible, when he couldn’t learn to read, when his sisters suffered alongside him, when I was so exhausted I could barely lift my head…would I be able to lay all of that on the altar and say, “Not my will but Yours?”
It’s a continual process, laying down what we love and trusting that God will do what is best, when from our earthly perspective, we may lose people or things we hold dear. But God is the ultimate gift-giver. His gifts are good, because He is good. I can focus on His character, the faithful and unchanging nature of a God who loves me. Not only that, but God will provide what we need to make it through the trial. He never leaves us alone to face suffering and grief. I can’t explain why sometimes our losses are so much more than we can bear, but I do know that God will help us bear them. His ways are far above ours, and He is faithful to do what He has promised. I pray that if He is asking you to lay something—or someone—down today, you are able to do it in His grace, trusting God to provide whatever you need.
REFLECTION
Is there anything in my life that I am holding onto that I know God has asked me to give up?
Am I trusting God to meet my needs or am I trying to control my circumstances?
Spend some time reading Ephesians 3:14-21. Look at what this prayer reveals about the character of God, and let the love of Christ draw you closer to Him.