The God Who Provides

Well, good afternoon and happy Sabbath! Thank you. It's wonderful to be back in sunny California. I bring you cold greetings from southeast Michigan. Very cold, very snowy, and so it's always, when we flew out, it was snowing. They had to de-ice the plane, and we were so happy. Our daughter's still back home, so we've been keeping in contact with her, but we're not jealous of what she's got on the ground right now. Our puppy Sadie, I keep on her puppy because she's so small, but she hates us as well, so she wishes she could have come with us, but she's back home. It is wonderful to be back here in California again and to be spending time with family and, of course, with our spiritual family as well. Cadence, thank you so much. I think you're over in the other room.

We did not talk about the song today, but it's going to tie in beautifully with today's sermon.

But thank you for sharing that gift and sharing it with all of us today.

When we moved to Michigan eight years ago, it was back in 2017, I got to take my wife back home. She's a Michigander, so she knows what snow's like. She's grown up as a kid on the blanket in the congregation. She knows a lot of the people that I have the opportunity now to pastor.

We made that transition to Michigan. With any type of move that any of us have done, any of the things we've done in our lives, it comes with a sense of uncertainty. What kind of house will I find? What will the roads be like? What will traffic be like? For a lot of us, what will my new job be like? When we made that transition to Michigan, one of the things we prayed a lot about was our house. It's one of those important things in all of our lives.

Shelter, places to stay out of the cold, places where we can call home, a place that is our solitude in the evenings after work or to spend time with our families. We prayed a lot about our house. What are some of the funny things that we look back on very fondly are those answered prayers from God. You make some requests because you know God sees bigger than what we make.

But you do have those things that you would like. Laura, going back to Michigan, asked for a fireplace.

Like, if we could have a fireplace in our house. We didn't have one or an old one, and the house that we ended up being able to purchase had a fireplace. We wanted a first-floor master and a first-floor laundry room because Laura has a hard time with stairs and things like that now.

And God blessed us with a one and a half story home. Sounds kind of odd, right? One and a half, that means most of everything's on the first floor, but two bedrooms and one bathroom is above on a second floor, but only half of the house has that. Our daughter was wanting her own bedroom on the second floor because she always had a room right next to ours in the old house. And so she wanted a two-story. Laura needed a one-story. God gave us a one and a half. You see how that works out?

Crazy, right? We moved in and so many things we enjoyed about it. The paint scheme was similar to our old. They had beautiful landscape and we like to work out in the yard for the few moments we get each summer. But one of the things we didn't realize at the time is our daughter Kelsey was praying privately for a willow tree. Never had a willow tree. Guess what this house had in our backyard? That we had no clue why it was there, but a willow tree. And we moved in and we're talking about and sharing stories about God's blessings, what he provided, all the things we prayed for, the things we didn't pray for that he still provided.

And then Kelsey was like, I prayed for a willow tree. And Laura and I were like, what? That's a weird thing to pray for. We had no idea our daughter got her willow tree as well. I share this because I think in each of our lives there's been times where we have just been floored and been shocked at how much God has given to us in our lives.

Things we've prayed for and he's answered those prayers. Things we haven't prayed for, but he knew what would bring us peace or happiness. And he has done so many things in our lives in such an abundant way and brought so much blessing to our lives. Scripture records that God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

That's from Ephesians 3 and verse 20. I love that phrase, exceedingly, abundantly. Because God could have, and he does, just provide what we need and we would be okay. We'd be happy. But he goes above so many times in providing so much more than we could ever dream and ever think that we would really need or desire or want. Like that example I shared, I think there's, we can all think of a time where God has provided above and beyond what we probably expected.

Maybe it was a healing of our health. Maybe it was providing a job or a type of employment. Maybe it was providing a spouse. Or maybe it was something as simple as changing the weather. Has anybody prayed for God to adjust the weather? Maybe it's on a wedding day, like, and it's supposed to rain. I remember we've prayed for that several times, and I've been kind of shocked.

Like, God, you answer even the small prayer sometimes. Not every time, right? We might have prayed for the weather has changed, and we got, and we had to deal with what it was, but I've seen his hand even do that. In a previous sermon I shared last year back in Michigan, I looked at the life of Abraham, Sarai, and Sarai's maidservant, Hagar. You may be very familiar with the story, but I'll recap it shortly in a brief way.

We know that Abraham and Sarai couldn't have any children. God had promised Abram that he would provide him an heir, and so time went on since God made that promise, and then Abraham and Sarai came up with their own plan that they would have that Abram would have this heir through Sarai's maidservant Hagar, and so she became with child, and then a child was born. But then there was challenge now because there was jealousy between Sarai and Hagar, and at one point Hagar, under the oppression and everything that was going on, felt like the only option she had was to take her son and to run off and to leave Abraham and Sarai.

In the mess, in the situation that they had created, in the mess that was in front of them, when their faith was faltering, God saw the struggles that they were in. He saw the plan that they had hatched and the problems that that plan had created for them. He saw Hagar when she ran away, and he gently asked her to return because he saw her difficult situation, and he planned to help her and her son Ishmael.

In the conversation with the Lord, Hagar called God El-Roy, which is, you are the God who sees, and Hagar said to God, I have now seen the one who sees me. That's all recorded in that account with God, with Abraham, Sarai, God, and then Hagar in the story how it played out in Genesis.

Today, in the time we have together, I would like to look at another part of the story with Abraham as we consider another characteristic of our great God. Today, we're going to talk about the God who provides. Let's open our Bibles to Genesis 22 and verse 1.

This is another account that is familiar. It's one of those stories that are in a lot of children's books and a lot of you've heard in a lot of sermons over our time in the church.

This is a story in a situation and an example of Abraham with his son Isaac in this very difficult task that God asks Abraham to do. Genesis 22 and verse 1 says, Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, Here I am. Now, your translation for verse 1 may say that God tempted Abraham. This does not imply that God tempted Abraham to do evil or to sin, but as many versions translate the word to test, and that is the word that God is going to give to Abraham. As Genesis weaves together several reoccurring things, two of those themes are the sovereignty of God and our submission to him. Did Abraham really have the proper fear of God, respect for who God was, his divine power and awesome purpose? Did he really believe and trust that God was able to do so? Did Abraham merely obedient because some instant gratification was in it for him? Would Abraham obey when it appeared greatly to his present disadvantage to do so? Obedience of and by itself is not necessarily a sign of love or submission. One can obey out of terror or pursuit of material gain. How would God know?

What if Abraham had begun and had built a relationship with God? He had built a trust relationship as they continued to build that relationship, our great God and Abraham.

And this is an amazing response of his growth and faith and trust in God, saying, here I am. And as verse 22 opens, and then he said, and I kind of put myself in Abraham's shoes here, right? So here's God talking to you. God's going to make a request and you're like, okay, that's what I'm here for. I want to serve. I want to do what you want me to do. So what is it, God?

Then he said, take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Okay, what are we doing, God? And offer him there as a burnt offering on the mountains, which I shall tell you. And I think that's when Abraham started pumping the brakes in this relationship, right? Because this is not just move your family, right? That's what Abraham was asked to do before, to move out of his homeland, move out of his country, take his family, move, re-establish himself in the land of Canaan. This is on a whole other level for Abraham and what God is asking. And going back to verse 1 for a moment, Scripture says, after these things, meaning and indicating that an unspecified number of years since Isaac's birth had passed. So here's his son of promise, the son that God had blessed him with and gave him, and he had grown with him for a lot of years. And now all of a sudden God is asking him to offer his only begotten son between him and Sarah as an offering. From different commentaries, or from a different commentary, this one's from the Teacher's Study Bible, it shares that Abraham was about 100 years old when Isaac was born, and now Isaac was old enough to carry on a conversation and to carry wood. Despite common perceptions that Isaac was a boy, some speculate that Isaac could have been a young man. So we're not talking, I think, in a lot of our children books. It shows a child or little kid that is walking with his father Abraham, and this is that offering. This would have been most likely either a young adult or a full adult male who could have said, wait, we're gonna go and do what? He carried the wood that we'll see here in a little bit. He carried a conversation with his father. They had this intimate relationship, and now this is what is being asked of Abraham. Notice how the account goes. So in verse 3, So Abraham rose early in the morning, I can't imagine he slept much at night, and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son, and he split the wood for the burnt offering. Again, I struggle to wrap my mind around knowing, splitting wood, knowing what the purpose of that wood would be. And he rose and went to the place which God has told him. And then on the third day, I don't want us to just quickly read over that. This journey took three days. Imagine what's going through Abraham's mind. Imagine the testing that is occurring in his heart. I don't want to say that there is a wavering, but if I put myself in his shoes, would I have been bouncing back and forth between, yes, God, I believe, and then, no, God, this can't be it. This can't be what you want me to do. That's Mike Phelps, okay? I'm not inserting Mike Phelps into the scripture here, but I think we all recognize the tremendous weight, the emotional taxing that would have been placed on Abraham in these three days. It says, on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey, the lad, and I will go yonder and worship and notice, and we will come back to you. He didn't say I will come back to you.

He had a faith that was stronger than just what God was asking him, that God would intervene and God would provide. So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. So Isaac's now carrying this wood up the mountain. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, my father, and he said, here I am, my son. Then he said, look, the fire in the wood, and where's the lamb for a burnt offering? And this brings us to the subject of today's sermon, and Abraham said, my son, God will provide.

Three little words that we have in this account that carry so much weight for each of us still today, every single one of us in our walk with God. Abraham said, my son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together. Now, we could step back for a moment and say, man, Abraham's faith, Abraham's trust, was just through the roof. I could never be where Abraham's at. Well, let's talk about some of Abraham's shortcomings, right? Abraham, previous to this, had lied twice about his wife being his sister, right? You remember that? So he truly lied about it. He also, he and Sarah agreed to take Hagar in and to conceive a child through her, so they concocted a bad plan. And so Abraham's track record up to this point in the story is not without spot, but yet it also shows that he continually worked on these areas of his life, and he continued to grow. Abraham's faith and trust in God had grown from these previous missteps. He obviously did not want to sacrifice his and Sarah's only son. He knew the promises, though, that God had made with him about his descendants being innumerable. Abraham fully trusted God's plan and promises would be fulfilled regardless of what was right in front of him in this instance. So it brings us back to a question for us today. Have there been times when our faith has been strongly tested? Maybe it's a mental testing, wondering if God actually hears my prayers. Is there really a God? Is he really going to provide for my needs? Maybe it's physical testing. Maybe it's a physical aspect of our health or a job that we've struggled with or a job that we lost. Or maybe it's testing through severe emotional stress, like the death of a loved one or relationship problem that we battle through. Have there been times when our faith has been strongly tested? Going on in verse 9, it says, then they came to the place of which God had told him, and Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order. And he bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Again, putting myself in his situation, I cannot imagine binding my child, knowing that I'm going to continue forth unless God says, stop or provides another option. I'm going to continue to go forth. And Abraham laid his son on the altar upon the wood, and Abraham stretched out his hand, and he took the knife to slay his son.

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham.

And so he said again, here I am. And he said, do not lay your hand on the lad, nor do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.

At the last moment, God intervened and stopped Abraham. It's really hard to be, again, in the mind of Abraham leading up to this very moment. But Hebrews 11 verse 17, hold your finger here in Genesis. We're coming back. But turn with me to Hebrews 11 verse 17. I'll move my ribbon out.

Hebrews 11 verse 17 through 19 shines some insight to what Abraham was thinking in this moment. Hebrews 11 verse 17. This is what we commonly refer to as the faith chapter, and it talks about Abraham and his faith. It says, By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, And Isaac, your seed shall be called. And notice verse 19, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Abraham in his heart of hearts knew that there was no other way in which the promise of having innumerable descendants could be fulfilled other than through Isaac. He had received the promise from God multiple times that he would be the father of a countless multitude.

And in Isaac, God had already shown how he works in miracles. There is no way that Sarah should have been able to have a child at her age, but yet she did. So Abraham knew that miracles exist, and he was willing to see another one performed. By all accounts we have, Abraham went with the full expectation that if God allowed him to sacrifice his son, God would also raise him up immediately from the dead. Go back to Genesis 22 and continue in verse 13.

Again, that's an outstanding example of faith, but yet Abraham had made mistakes in his past. He wasn't a perfect human being. We know that. But those steps that walk with God transformed him to the point where he could follow God to this degree of fast. And notice verse 13.

In the book of Genesis, we have the word of the Lord. And this is the only time that it is used throughout all of Scripture. The complete word study dictionary says this about the word. It says, a name given to designate the Lord by Abraham, meaning the Lord will see to it in a literal sense, but also means the Lord will provide. From Adams-Clarke commentary, literally interpreted, the Lord will see, that is, God will take care that everything shall be done that is necessary for the comfort and support of them who trust in him. Hence, the words are usually translated, the Lord will provide. And the treasury of scriptural knowledge shares this. The meaning is that God, in the greatest difficulties, when all human assistance is vain, will make a suitable provision for the deliverance of those who trust in him. Again, the Lord will provide is what Abraham named the place and in turn provided one of the scriptural names that we have for God. The Bible is full of account after account of God providing for his people. One could argue that the entirety of Scripture is for archiving this very fact. The God of the entire universe loves mankind with such a perfect love that he continually provides and offers care over the entirety of mankind. But he does all of this according to his purpose and the way that he wills for mankind. This is the challenge that all believers have in their faithful walk with God to truly, fully, and completely trust the God who provides. Philippians 4 verse 19, you can put that in your notes, tells us, and my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.

Voice supply and note, even if it's the courage to face death, as Paul did. That's something that we sometimes separate out. I'm going to come back to the life application as it continues on, but that's sometimes what we, in our human mind, have a tendency to separate out our blessings from God and then the trials that we battle. Because obviously, if we're going to pick which one you want to go with, let's go with the blessings. That's what I want. I want good health, I want safety, I want money, I want love in my life, I want family. These are things that God supports. He wants us to have. But then, how many of us are saying, let's bring on the trial, right? None of us want that. Even though we know if it's God's will, it'll produce what he wants it to produce in time.

We recognize that we often want the... ... Well, says we recognize that even if it's the courage to face death, that that is something that God can provide to us. If it's the encouragement as we battle through trials, that is something that our great God can provide. And so, it's not just the physical blessings, but it's also the other items that we need in life. Life Application Study Bible goes on to say, we must remember, however, the difference between our wants and our needs. Most people want to feel good and avoid discomfort or pain. We may not get all that we want. By trusting in God, our attitudes and appetites can change from wanting everything to accepting his provision and power to live for him. I think when we think back to the example of Abraham, that is what occurred in his life.

He recognized that through the trials...

...

Did you make a mistake? Should we have waited another season?

There was no famine in the land? I think you missed the mark here. You could see where this was not an easy walk that Abraham had with his God. Another question, did he foresee that everything that had happened previously was preparing him for that moment on the mountain with his son and the knife above his head? Did he know that every single one of these trials, these challenges, these decisions, his failures at times even, was preparing him for this moment? I don't think in that moment he knew that he could have the foresight to look back and say, yep, God was doing it then. Five years ago, God was doing this in my life, and then three months ago, he was doing this, and then seven months ago, he was doing... We don't often have that insight, especially in the moment that God had been preparing us for this moment. That insight usually comes years down the road, at least in my life it often does. But in all of this, this was the walk God had been with Abraham on, and this walk that would lead to Abraham's choice in this moment.

In many of life's events, we do not see clearly the long-term impact an event will have on our spiritual walk, but God does. He is also the God who sees, remember as that Hebrew name described, God takes notice of everything happening all over the world. He sees and knows the events of life, and he sees the big picture. I was sharing with our family last night at dinner, and at some company they had over, a lesson that I still carry with me to this day. I remember being a little kid, and one of the fun things to do is when you're playing in the background, to play either Pirates or Cowboys. And maybe you never did this, but I'd like to get the paper towel roll, like the empty paper towel roll from the kitchen when it would run out, and then we would use it as like a binocular, right? Like a binocular, and you look and you're playing out in the yard, and whether it's army or cowboys and Indians, whatever it is, but you've got your fake binocular or binocular, and you're looking through it trying to see where other people are at.

The interesting thing with that, years later, and it's one of those things like looking back, like those things that God allows us to do in our life, then later shows us a spiritual lesson with it, is I've gone through most of my life looking at my life through whatever I could see at the end of that binocular, right? Whatever I can see, and I can move it around in my life, and I get a different vision, but whatever I can see at the very end is all I can see, right?

And to me, that is reality. That is my life right now, for good or for bad. Whatever I can see is what is reality. Yet, what God has brought me to more times than I can count is recognizing, Mike, yes, that's what you see, but I see so much bigger, right? We have such a limited view so often on the things that we go through in life, good and bad, like that little vision at the end of a binocular, but yet God sees the full picture. And that's what gets back to Abraham's story, and that's what's hard with life. Because we don't know if God is seeing everything the way that we think he should see everything. Or we don't know how this is all going to play out in the long run. We don't know how this trial is going to turn out to be good, because I can't see the end yet.

But God sees it. God sees so much bigger than we do.

Are we ever afraid of what a certain circumstance will bring in our life?

Are we ever afraid to trust God with our possessions, or our dreams, our relationships, or even our family? Similar to Abraham, what we go through and what we receive back is not always immediate, nor is it in the form that we might expect. But God sees much bigger than what he has of that which he has in store for us. He sees much bigger his plans for us, and he sees much more clearly how life's events will impact us powerfully at a future time.

There's another amazing and fun example in Scripture of God providing for his people, and this is in Exodus chapter 13.

There's so many of these accounts that as I read them, I can't help but put myself in the people's shoes of trying to feel like, what would it have been like to be an Israelite coming out of Egypt?

What would it have been like to see the 10 plagues?

What would it have been like to see God's provision and his protection at times?

And this story here in Exodus 13 really, if you'll go with me there and walk with me, really put yourself in the shoes of the Israelites and the emotions and the feelings that they're having. To bring us up to speed, so God has brought his people out of Egypt. He's brought them out of persecution and oppression. He's blessed them with a lot. They plundered Egypt, so they took a lot of wealth with them. They had food, they had provisions.

Where they were going was still uncertain. This is a new God to them in a lot of ways, and so they're building that faith, they're building that trust with him on this journey.

God brings them all the way to the Red Sea and parks them right next to it. They're bound in by different mountain topography, different landscapes. They think it's okay. God brought us here. This is where we're at. Notice Exodus 13 in verse 21.

The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people. In a very similar way, we have pillars leading us daily through our life as we allow God to lead us forward. He's blessed us with his spirit to be that guide, to be that comforter, to be that helper as we go through life. God is right there with us through everything. The only thing that can come between the relationship is if we choose to walk away from God. God gave them a pillar both during day and night, and as they journeyed the Israelites, they had a choice. They could have said, we're going to make a turn right here, and we're going to go a different direction. The pillar is going to keep on going, but I'm going to go a new way. I think there's a better route, a better option for my life. They had that opportunity. God was leading them. We know we have that opportunity. God is leading us, but they followed God as we each do as well. Notice what happens next. The Israelites encounter their Red Sea moment. Exodus 14 and verse 1 says, Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Faihirah, between Migdol and the sea opposite Baal Zephan, and you shall camp before it by the sea. For Faihirah will say to the children of Israel, They are bewildered by the land, and the wilderness has closed them in. Then I will heart in Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them, and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all of his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so. Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this? That we have let Israel go from serving us.

So he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him, and he took 600 choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. He got everybody rowed up, everybody together, called all his boys in town. We're going to take care of this. We've got to bring them back, and we will oppress them again. Pharaoh didn't hold anything back. And imagine the the Israelites, they didn't leave with chariots. They didn't leave with swords and spears. They didn't leave with shields. They had very meager provisions, just pretty much shelter, food, security, trusting God.

And then here's Pharaoh bringing the entire army after them, per se. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh's king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel, and the children of Israel went out with boldness. So the Egyptians pursued them all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Faihiroth before Baal-Zaphan. And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes. And this is where we can, I hope, put ourselves in their shoes for a moment. And behold, the Egyptians marched after them.

So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Now, in this moment, what would each of us be going through emotionally? The Israelites had seen miracle after miracle that God had performed for them. Did this just suddenly vanish from their mind? They had seen the way that he had dealt with Pharaoh, the way that these these plagues, which were miraculous in their effect, had on the Egyptians that they had witnessed.

Sometimes, I think we have to recognize when these weighty moments happen in our lives, we can forget aspects of our walk with God that we have been on with five, ten, fifteen, twenty, fifty years. We can sometimes lose sight of some of the things that God has done for us. Those miracles, those answered prayers, those fingerprints. I like to refer to them as fingerprints of God, right? Because to most people, they're invisible. You touch the selector and you touch a glass of water and least fingerprints, but most people you don't see them, right? But if you had the trained eye, you had the skill, and you had the equipment, you could pick up that glass, and you'd be like, there's a fingerprint right there. God has given us the ability to see His fingerprints, those moments that He touches our lives. And others deny that there's a God, and they say it's just time and chance. And we look at them with that kind of pity in our heart that they don't have a relationship like we do. And so we see those fingerprints. We know those answered prayers. We see those miracles, and then we get hit up the side of the head with the worst trial we've ever had in our life. ... And then they said to Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us, so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians, and to do what we should, then we, then that we should die in the wilderness. I think I'm not going to ask you, I'll speak for myself, there's been times I've had similar conversations with God like this, where I knew a decision I would have to make, or a choice I'd have to make in life, and I'm like, this may not work so well, God. Your Bible says I got to tell the truth, or your Bible says I got to do this. Do you know the other person that I'm going to have to deal with? Like, they're not going to handle this the right way, but we know we got to go forward, right? We got to do what God's asked us to do, and then we do it, and it goes completely bad. And then we come back to God and I say, I told you!

This is going to go this way!

I think at times we have a little bit of Israelite, or a lot of Israelite, in ourselves.

And in this moment, Moses said to the people, do not be afraid.

And isn't, I think, this what it often comes down to when we start doubting, we start wondering, we start questioning God. A lot of it's out of fear of the unknown. Fear of where our life is going to go, what direction it's going to continue in. When these life events occur, what is it that we're afraid of that causes doubt to enter into our minds? Thinking back to the account of Abraham, did he have reason to be afraid of following God's command to sacrifice Isaac? From a human sense, I would hope that a loving father would be concerned and fearful.

But Abraham overcame that fear by having faith in God's promises and of his provision.

Going back to Exodus 14, verse 13, and Moses said to the people, do not be afraid.

Stand still, tying into the special music, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians, who you see today, you shall see again no more.

The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. Stand still.

I think it's two of the most difficult words that we have in Scripture.

Such a hard statement to internalize when everything seems to be crashing down.

Imagine the situation in this camp of Israel. Again, imagine they're camping by the Red Sea.

They're setting up their tents, or maybe they've already set up their tents.

Their kids are playing with other kids. Maybe their cousins pour tents down.

Their husbands are away, maybe tending to the flock, and a place where the animals can actually graze. Things are uncertain because they're journeying through a wilderness, but things are okay because it seems relatively fine. Then off in the distance, you start to hear those clops and the noise from the armies approaching. As it echoes off the canyon walls and the topography around, it's getting louder, and it sounds like a storm, like a thunderstorm is rolling through. Then you get your first glimpses of Pharaoh's army, and the terror that would fill your heart. Imagine a mother looking for her children, knowing they're with a cousin four tents down. She starts to scramble, trying to find her children to bring them back home, wondering where her husband is, maybe running out, calling for him. Come back! Come back!

Imagine the terror. Imagine the confusion. Imagine the turmoil. Imagine everything.

I think our lives have been exactly like this situation on a spiritual level at times.

Stand still. This is one of those hardest tasks to accomplish for those of us who follow God.

And going on in verse 15, and the Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. Seems kind of contradictory, right?

Moses says, Stand still! God says, No, get moving! I think there's times in our life where we do both, and we may do them one right behind each other. We stand still for a moment to regain our bearings on life, to regain and regrab control of our emotions and our thoughts, and then we realize, Okay, God, where do you want me to go? What do you want me to do? What's next on the agenda?

Tell the children of Israel to go forward and then notice how God provides. But lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. Why? So I will gain honor over Pharaoh. Don't miss these words. It wasn't for the Israelites.

It wasn't so that they could go back and say, Look what our God did for us.

It was all about God. It was so that He gets all the glory. It's so that He gets the victory.

And in our own lives, as we battle through trials, as we battle through difficulties, yes, there's a physical element that we have, and we have to go forward, and we have to work our way through it. But don't miss the honor that God gets when He provides a path forward, when He provides for our needs, so that God will gain honor over our trials, over our difficulties, over the problems of life. God says, So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. This is why when we make good choices in life, we can't glory in what we've done, because where did we get that information? Where did we get that heart to follow God? It's to make that right choice. It's because we want to follow God. Where did we get that instruction? We shouldn't lie from God. Where did we get that instruction that we should be gentle or peaceful with others who may not be peaceful or gentle with us? It's from God.

How did he even draw us to himself? It wasn't because we woke up one day and said, You know what? I want to find the creator of the universe, and I want to enter into a covenant with him. I want to have this... No, it was God drawing us out. Scripture even says God is the one who draws us to repentance. I didn't get that when I got baptized. I didn't understand this concept that way. I thought I was making a good choice. I thought I was tired of my life, and I was tired of the bad choices, and I was tired of stubbing my toe against the rocks. No, God was drawing me to that point so that I could go a new direction. Again, all of this points back to God when we have this relationship as Abraham did, as Moses did, and as we go forward with God.

But this isn't the account. It could end here and be just beautifully written.

But there's one additional aspect that really ties in again and gives us all so much encouragement.

There's something else very powerful that God did for Israel. Verse 19, And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.

There would be absolutely no possible way that Israel would be able to overcome Pharaoh and his army on their own. It's just impossible. It was no physical way. But we don't have a God who deals in only the physicals that we're so bound by in life. We have a God that time is nothing for him.

Day and night are alike to him. Darkness doesn't slow him down or keep him from seeing what he wants to see. There's nothing that separates us from the love and care of God. In this moment, the Israelites saw again that God is a God who provides. And what an amazing way that he did it by going behind them and having their back. Going behind them and putting something between them and this fear that terrorized them. And so many times as we go through life and as God says, it's time to go forward. It's time to continue to make progress. But God doesn't just wander off and get busy with other people's lives. He goes behind us to give us that support so that we can go forward. I can't help but think of the imagery and this analogy of a child with a parent, a child with a grandparent, someone they trust, and they're looking up to from several feet lower.

And the parent is encouraging them, no, this is fine. We can do this. You can go pet a dog or you can go do something that you're nervous about. And they keep looking back, right? They keep looking back like, are you sure? Are you sure this is okay? That comfort, though, that encouragement that they're given is the same way that God looks down on us and has our back as we take steps forward in uncertain times. Situations, we're not sure how it's going to work out, but we go forward. There are countless other examples we could look at for God providing for His people.

Jesus walking to the disciples on the water in the midst of the storm and then calming the storm.

Peter being delivered from prison chains and certain death.

But I'd like to begin wrapping up in Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4 and verse 13. Romans chapter 4 goes back to the story and references back to the story of Abraham again.

Romans 4 and verse 13.

Paul writes, for the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. In verse 19, and not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body already dead since he was about a hundred years old in the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. And being fully convinced that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. That's what it all comes down to in life. Comes back to knowing God's word, to knowing how deeply he cares about us, knowing that he has in store for us things that we can't even imagine in his kingdom. Knowing that even if our life comes to an end physically, it's not the end of our story. Knowing that if we suffer for doing right, God sees it all. Abraham did what he could what he was called to do before his God because he never lost sight of the promises of God.

Verse 22 says, and therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now it's not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but notice, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. Albert Barnes' commentary, when considering the life of Abraham and Isaac, shares this. The grand crisis, the crowning event in the history of Abraham now takes place. Every needful preparation has been made for it. He has been called to a high singular destiny with the expectant acquiescence or agreement. He has obeyed the call.

By the delay in the fulfillment of the promise, he has been taught to believe in the Lord on his simple word. He has been commanded to walk in holiness and circumcise in token of his possessing the faith which purifies the heart. And he has, at length, become the parent of the child of promise.

He has now something of unspeakable worth by which his spiritual character may be thoroughly tested.

Since the hour in which he believed in the Lord, the features of his resemblance to God have been shining more and more through the darkness of his fallen nature. Freedom of resolve, holiness of walk, inter possessing benevolence or kindness, and paternal affection. The last prepares the way for the highest point of moral likeness. Commentary and summary says everything that Abraham experienced was for this moment. Everything that God had refined him over the many years in this walk with God. And that moment is here. But everything God is doing was so that he re-gates his claim. And so, none of what Abraham would have ever been able to do prior to that moment.

Each of us in faith and the God who sees and the God who provides has walked away from our past to begin a journey to a new land and a new kingdom. Very similar to what Abraham did.

We are on a journey that is fraught with highs and lows, successes and challenges, overachieving, and at times, taking two steps backwards. Abraham and Sarah were not perfect people, nor did God ever expect them to be. What he wanted was someone who would revere him, to give their life to him, and never quit the journey he had placed in front of them.

Abraham and Sarah stand as amazing examples of God's people who never lost faith, and God's provision over their lives stands as a testament to God's eternal and everlasting love. This is our God who provides.

Thank you, Mr. Phelps, for helping us in going back and thinking how many times, indeed, God has provided as a sample of what is yet to come. Beautiful. Thank you. And now for the final hymn, this God-being of which he was speaking so much during the sermon, number 128, Glorious Things of Thee I Spoken. Number 128, after this, the closing prayer by Mr. Emil McKillan. 128.

All fear of wandering wolves, who made laws of the river, never closed, and first was made, made to strike the golden river, never bare from age to age. The village of Evasion, of ring, he the golden fire of year, for glory and recovery.

The Lord is here, go, God of season, he has spoken, so I am city of a rock, he who has worked on not the road, for the home is home of God.

Father Mighty, Creed of all heaven earth, Abba Father, Jehovah, Jairu, we bow before you, having you thrown here on your Sabbath day. Thanking you so much for the mighty words that you provided through your servants here today to be able to trust in you, to be able to have faith like Abraham, to be able to be obedient. And so we thank you so much, Lord, for your goodness. We thank you so much for your kindness and most important, your love. Always guiding us throughout this life that you've given us, and help us to be able to always be reminded about you and your son Jesus Christ on a daily basis, that you're there with us through our trials. We thank you so much for just blessing us through the little things, and also blessing us through the big things in life, and always being with us throughout our trials. I pray and ask that you also please be with our hearts as well, that we learned about pride today. And I pray that you please help us to be able to be reminded that we could be able to have a humble heart, because I know that you desire all of us to be able to have a humble and contrite heart. So we thank you for your wonderful words. We're your people, we're your children, and I know that you deeply love us. So I pray and ask that you please bless us here today with the fellowship. Please bless the food, and we just thank you so much again for all your goodness. So we put this all in your hands in the name of the authority of your Son, our soon coming King Jesus Christ. Amen.