God provides

As I shared the story of Christie and I this past Sunday, I can only hope and pray that God used it to encourage couples, challenge individuals and remind us all that God provides.

I closed with 5 points but I fear they may have gone by too quickly, so I'm going to list them again followed with a brief comment.

1) Expect God to test you (Gen 22.1-2)
God doesn't test us for the sole purpsoe of showing us our weaknesses - that's what a bully does. God will often test us so he can prove himself to us: to show us the depth of his love, the consistency of his faithfulness and beauty of his intimacy.

2) Make a covenant investment (Gen 22.3-4, 6-8)
We, like Abraham, often make decisions as if we don't really believe God will deliver on his promises. To test this selfish tendancy, God established a thing called a covenant. God never intended to be a distant-giver; he wants to be an intimate-sharer. In other words, God wants us to have some skin in the game of our relationship to him (and for Abraham, God meant that literally).

3) Focus on promises, not explanations (Gen 22.5)
When it comes to walking by faith - and not by sight - it can be hard to stay focused. Logic, rationalization and feelings can become our worst enemies, and temptation will always seem to make more sense than faith. The best tool to fight this is to focus on God's promises... What was the last thing God told you? What promise did he reveal to you in Scripture? And how has he affirmed this with you in your prayer time?

4) Depend on God's provision. (Gen 22.9-14)
So many Christ-followers' last words are, "I just can't do this anymore!" AND THEY'RE RIGHT!!! God never intended us to do anything alone and their cry of desparation should actually be a shout of epiphany! Don't just sigh and say, "Well, it will be whatever God intended it to be." Depend! Expect! Bank on! Know! that you will fail if God doesn't provide.

5) Anticipate God's blessing. (Gen 22.15-19)
By anticipate, I don't mean be anxious or impatient but be confident in God's faithfulness. Any person can say they trust God but it is only those who truly believe that God's love is better than life whom God can trust in return.