He Is More Than Enough
by Colin Wilson
, And Abraham took the
wood of the burnt
offering, and laid it
upon
Isaac his son; and he
took the fire in his
hand, and a knife; and
they went both of them
together. And Isaac
spake unto Abraham his
father, and said, My
father: and he said,
Here am I, my son. And
he said, Behold the fire
and the wood: but where
is the lamb for a
burnt offering? And
Abraham said, My son,
God will provide himself
a lamb for a burnt
offering: so they went
both of them together.
And Abraham called the
name of that place
Jehovahjireh: as it is
said to this day, In the
mount of the LORD it
shall be seen.”
(Genesis 22:6-8, 14,
KJV)
To hear some Christians
speak sometimes, one
would think that God
is totally powerless. It
is almost as if this
all-knowing, all-
powerful, all-mighty
God, the creator of
Heaven and Earth needs
help to do the things
that He is more than
capable of doing. Some
of us it seems have a
very difficult time
coming to the grips with
the awesomeness of our
God and as someone once
said, the greatest
problem in the religious
world is not an unbelief
in God but our
belief in a God that we
have made too small.
While the early church
and those before them
often exercised a
diligent faith in God,
we seem to live in a
dispensation where
everyone wants to
literally see results
and outcomes before we
feel comfortable. It is
as if gone are the days
of unmovable and
unwavering faith in a
God that we knew was
going to come through
even if there was
nothing around us that
supported that knowing.
On the matter of faith
Paul reminds us, “Now
faith is the
substance of things
hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen”
(Hebrews 11:1). In other
words, we do not know
what is going to
happen, or how it is
going to happen, but we
believe God for
whatever we need at any
given point in time; a
faith that says I
don’t see it yet, but I
know it is coming.
It is this kind of faith
that Abraham exercised
in our reference
text. When God asked him
to offer up his long
awaited and only son
Isaac as a sacrifice,
Abraham did not flinch,
he did not argue, he
did not bargain, but
simply took his son “to
the place which God
had told him of ...
built an altar there,
and laid the wood in
order, and bound Isaac
his son, and laid him on
the altar upon the
wood.” (v.9). As he
“stretched forth his
hand, and took the knife
to slay his son”, I am
tempted to think that
even then he knew
that that God would
provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering:
but he was willing to
exercise his faith in
God, even with the
knife in his hand, his
hand up in the air,
ready to slay his son.
Up to that time he had
not seen the lamb he
knew would be provided
but he knew that God
would provide it, in His
time. Space does not
allow me to go fully
into this wonderful
portion of scripture but
I invite readers to read
the entire chapter for a
front row seat
to this magnificent
demonstration and reward
of unwavering faith.
It is very interesting
that Abraham called the
name of the place
of the offering,
Jehovah-jireh, which we
have come to interpret
as
meaning the Lord will
provide. A looser
interpretation is “the
Lord will take care of
it” and I really like
that one best as it
serves as a reminder
that whatever our
individual
circumstances,
our God will take care
of it. Jesus himself
reminded us “Behold
the fowls of the air:
for they sow not,
neither do they reap,
nor
gather into barns; yet
your heavenly Father
feedeth them. Are ye
not much better than
they?” (Matt 6:26). If
that does not send
shivers down your spine
then I do not know what
will. Paul
undoubtedly was thinking
the same thing when he
reminds us, “But
my God shall supply all
your need according to
his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:19).
As I pondered the text
and Job’s own unwavering
faith in a God
that “though he slay me,
yet will I trust him”,
it confirmed once
again that regardless of
our present situation,
our God is more
than enough to meet us
at our every point of
need and do for us
far more than we can
ask, imagine, or think.
We remember the three
Hebrews boys thrown into
the fire, Daniel in the
lion’s den, the
crossing of the Red Sea,
David and Goliath, the
Shunnamite woman,
and the numerous other
examples in the
scriptures of a God that
has mastery over every
situation and who is
more than enough when
His people exercised
faith in Him.
I have always believed
that it is God’s
responsibility to take
care of me. Of course
there are things that I
have to do but
having come to the
realization that He is
the Almighty God, I
figured out some years
ago that it was
pointless of me to worry
about the things over
which I had no control
and were things that
He was the specialist
at. Not only is He my
provider (Jehovah-
jireh), but when I need
healing, He is my
Jehovah-rapha (Ex.
15:26); when I need
inner and outer peace,
He is my Jehovah-shalom
(Judges 6:23,24); when I
need guidance, He is my
Jehovah-rohi, my
Shepherd (Ps. 23:1);
when I need
sanctification, He is
Jehovah-
m’kaddesh, the Lord who
sanctifies (Ex. 31:13);
when I need for
Him to be there, He is
my Jehovah-shammah and
His presence is with
me (Ezekiel 48:35); when
I need to hold Him high,
He is my
Jehovah-nissi, my banner
(Ex. 17:15). He is
Jehovah-tsidkenu, my
righteousness (Jer.
23:5-6); He is Elohim,
LORD, all-powerful; He
is El Shaddai, my
nourisher and comforter,
and He is Adonai, my
Lord and Master. Did I
leave anything out????
As these Redemptive
names of God shows,
everything about Him
says He is more than
enough for me, and for
all who will believe
that He is all that He
says He is and then
some.
Our God does not need
help. He simply needs a
people who will
demonstrate unwavering
faith in Him and not
make Him too small for
their circumstances.
Sure He often asks a lot
of us and there are
times it seems we have
been given more than we
can bear but once
we learn to lean on Him,
especially during the
difficult times, we
will find a God whose
resources we cannot
exhaust. The rent needs
to be paid, the bills
are piling up, and
things are not going the
way you planned. Perhaps
you are looking for that
elusive job and
your spirit is just
about exhausted. From
your perspective it
seems you are always a
day late and a dollar
short; there is never
enough to go around. In
the face of those and
life’s other
challenges, how big have
you made your God? As
you face your
situations you may think
you need Abraham’s
faith. All that is
required however is
faith as small as a
mustard seed (Matt.
17:20)
and a belief that God is
a rewarder of them that
diligently seek
Him (Hebrews 11:6). As
you exercise your faith
in Him and become
aware of His
awesomeness, may you
realize also that He
does not
need your help to do the
things He is a
specialist at. Simply do
your part and leave the
rest up to Him. It is
only then that you
will fully realize that
He is more than enough.
Always has been.
Always will be. He is
Elohim; He is LORD.
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