The LORD Provides Leaders

Yes, the LORD will provide the leaders of the church and elsewhere.

“¹⁸I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” – Deuteronomy 18:18 (ESV)

The people of Israel had Moses to lead them out of Egypt. As his time grew to an end, the LORD let known that He would provide leadership for them afterward. This leader would come from the people and he would speak the Word of the LORD as Moses did.

This demonstrates that God has a plan for us and will provide what we need, when we need. In this case the need would be leadership. God chose the next leader for the people prior to the need for him to take over. This would allow for the smooth and efficient transition from Moses to the next and it would all be as he LORD had intended.

I have experienced this myself a number of years ago. I was a member of the pastor search committee in our church. As committee members, we had reviewed all the applicants and even went to visit one at his current church. After offering to position, he turned us down. We continued to pray that God would provide the right pastor for his church and we kept coming back to the one. So we contacted him and he accepted. This was the man provided by God for our church when we needed him.

The LORD does not just provide for our physical needs. He provides for all of our needs. His provision even extends into the people needed in our lives.

When was the last time someone was provided for you? Are you even aware that the LORD will provide even the right people? What if you gave yourself fully to the LORD with the knowledge that He will provide all that you need when you need, even the people you need?

The LORD Will Provide Just What We Need

“⁷And Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ ⁸Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.’ So they went both of them together.” – Genesis 22:7-8 (ESV)

Here we have the scene of Abraham and Isaac headed off to make an offering to the LORD. Isaac is to be the offering. Yes, in case you did not know, the LORD had given direction for Abraham to offer his only son as a burnt offering. Isaac is curious as to what would be offered to the LORD as they did not bring an animal with them. It was not time for Isaac to know and so Abraham deferred to the LORD, knowing that He would provide just what was needed in that time.

The thing I see here is that Abraham was following the LORD to the letter. He went as he was commanded. He was willing to do the work God had for him, no matter the cost at the time. As I have written before, the LORD is always protecting us, even if we do not see it right now. We are to obey Him and know that He will protect us, and He will provide for us.

In the rest of the account, Abraham was about to follow through with the sacrifice of Isaac. He had his had raised with the knife and all. And the angel of the LORD stopped him and commended Abraham for obeying the LORD, regardless of the immediate cost. And as Abraham had told Isaac in verse 8 above, the LORD provided a ram to be sacrificed just when it was needed.

I am reminded here as I have titled, the LORD will provide just what we need. And I will add just when we need.

What are you doing in obedience to the LORD? Are you delaying your obedience because the cost may be too high? What if you just obeyed and approached knowing that the LORD will provide just what and when you need?

God Will Provide All That We Need

It is one thing to know that God will provide, it is something else to see it demonstrated. This morning I continue my study on the word “will” and was brought to the passage of “Noah and the Flood” (the title in my ESV Bible). Here is the passage of Noah and his charge from God to be the survivor of the LORD’s destruction of the earth and all that is on it.

“¹³And God said to Noah, ‘I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth ¹⁴Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.’” – Genesis 6:13-14 (ESV)

God told Noah to build an ark for himself. If Noah is building an ark for himself, that would stand to reason that Noah would survive the destruction. So as I have read and written, God was going to reset and Noah would be the starting point. Noah had found favor with God and he would be spared.

Where this is nice that God tasked Noah with building an ark for his survival, and it does demonstrate God’s provision, it is bigger and more detailed. You see, God provides “all” that we will need. Where there may be times that He gives us the overarching theme of what we are to do and then we are to work it out on our own, God will, when the need is there, provide all the details as He does with Noah here.

“¹⁵This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. ¹⁶Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.” – Genesis 6:15-16 (ESV)

God gives Noah the blueprints to follow in the building of the ark. All of the details are provided and not just the grand plan in this instance. As we go on in the passage, the LORD gives more detail as to what to include in the ark and what purpose it all has. And God guides Noah through the entire process. All the way to when to enter the ark, when the rains would come, and for how long they would be.

I struggle with the plans the LORD has for me in that I am not always sure where to begin, how to proceed, and how things will end. This morning I have been reminded that not being sure is okay. God will provide what I need when I need it and if the details are required, He will provide it all.

What are your thought on God’s provision? Do you expect that you will always have to figure things out? What if you approached God’s provision with the understanding that He will provide all that is needed in each instance?