2-7-2023

Good Morning All,

        Genesis 22:14; “So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide;” as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

   “I don’t know.” Those are three small words that, when we hear them, can cause us some much pain and so much uncertainty.  If you go to the doctor with a pain that won’t go away and after as many tests as he has he looks at you and says, “I don’t know why you hurt.”  Maybe you finally worked up the courage to talk to that special someone and after you ask them out they say, “I don’t know.”  A loved one is in an accident and when you ask how he is; the response is,” I don’t know.”

     Three little words which sum up all of our human frailty and also all of our human wisdom.  “I don’t know” covers so much of our life that we often just stand there and slowly turn in a circle looking for direction, a hint, any shred of anything that will give us the slightest chance at an answer.  We are even quick to grab the wrong answer over “I don’t know”.  We will even grab hold of manmade answers that fail to answer because believing something, even something wrong, is better than “I don’t know”.

     So, we stumble around, lost, and confused.  It is like we are walking down a path, in the dark, in a fog, with no light or direction.  After a while, we just sit down in total despair and give up because, I don’t know, we have no clue where we are or where we are going.  We are a lost people and a lost person and we have no hope or chance. 

     Into this land of no hope of “I don’t know’ God comes to rescue us.  Jesus came to redeem us.  He came to answer our “I don’t know.”  Jesus came to show us that when we don’t know; he tells us,” I am with you always” “I am the way, the truth and the life”.  When we are lost, we know that “The Lord will provide”.  Just like Abraham, when he felt he had no options left, he saw the ram in the bush and sacrificed it instead of his son, Isaac. God provided for Abraham.  We are like this in many ways.  When we look anywhere else for help, for guidance, for our security; we are lost but God provides for us.  He gives us all that we need to live this life.  He gives us life through the redemptive work of Jesus. 

     Through all our struggles in life, no matter what those struggles are, God provides for us.  He uses the created world to assist us, to protect us, to provide for our needs.  He uses the doctors, the family, the friends, the members of your church; all of these God uses to provide for us.  When we experience support, it is God coming to you.  When you are lost God comes to you and picks you up and puts you back where He wants you to be.  We can feel safe in his arms.  We experience his grace and love even when we feel lost.  God is always there for us, late at night when our fears are great, when we wait for the doctor’s report, when we see no hope or future, God calls us back to him bringing us to himself where we can experience the safety of his grace where he provides everything we need.

Dear Father, we give you thanks for all that you provide.  Too often we fail to trust you to provide for us.  When we do this, we find ourselves lost, and without the comfort of your arms.  Bring us home and cause us to experience the safety of your arms.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret