It takes a great deal of preparation and planning to go on a backpacking trip, doesn’t it? You have to get your tent and sleeping bag ready, as well as your food and first-aid kit, clothes for unpredictable kinds of weather, and a variety of other “odds and ends” for your safety and comfort. It is a very good idea to put everything into your pack before the last minute in order to determine if it will actually all fit. You may just find that you will have to repack it again, maybe 2 or 3 times, eliminating what you can, while adding some other very necessary items. You must have a “pre-vision” of what it will be like out there in the mountains or wilderness in order to take the wisest “provisions”.
When God came to Abraham and told him to go to Mount Moriah with his son, Isaac, he had to do the same thing. He immediately started to get everything ready for the 6-day journey, but as he packed the wood and knife for the offering, he must have had some very big questions in his mind. The fact that ELOHIM was sending him must have given him a great deal of comfort. He knew Him as the great creator and sustainer of life and the God who had always kept His promises to him in the past. As he and Isaac and the servants got closer to their destination, no doubt he was calling on the name of YWAH, the eternal and all-knowing God whose covenant with him could never be broken. In fact, when Isaac asked about the lamb for the offering, Abraham did not take things into his own hands but assured him “God would be providing it”. Was there a slight tremble in his voice as he spoke those words or was his confidence in Jehovah enough? What an amazing moment it must have been for that father and son when, at just the right time, they heard an angel of the Lord call out to them. No wonder Abraham came up with a new name for his God and for that place – Jehovah Jireh. The God who sees and who provides. The God whose hindsight is complete, whose foresight is without limits, and who will bless and provide for His children who willingly listen to His voice.
On our own, our ability to learn from the past is helpful. Our capability to see in to the future is extremely limited. Our insight into the plans God has for us today and certainly for the future is only as secure as our faith in Jehovah and His Word. Knowing and calling on Jehovah-Jireh, The One whose vision is unlimited and whose mercy and love is indescribable, just might be what will enable you and me to face the unknowns of our journey.
