know that our Heavenly Father has a unlimited supply of what we need. I don't know what your needs may be this morning, but I want you to know God has an unlimited supply to meet those needs. We notice here in our text that Abraham, he is the the father of Israel, and at the call of God, at the age of 75, he was told to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and go down to God's promised land, not knowing where he would go, and he believed God's promise that he would be a father of a great nation. Now Isaac wasn't born until he was 100 years old. I have a dear friend. He's with the Lord now, but he was Pastor Dan Reed. And Dr. Dan Reed pastored in Selmer, Tennessee for about seven years, and we had a fun and wonderful relationship. The Lord moved him to Georgia, and he did outstanding things. God used him greatly there. But he and his wife had a child in their mid-40s, And I used to call him Abraham because of that. But at 75, Abraham left Ur of the Chaldeans, and he went to the Promised Land, trusting God. Now, he was 100 years old when God gave them Isaac. Or the Bible says, as good as dead. Look in Hebrews 11, verse 12. It says, Therefore, spraying their even of one, and Him as good as dead, so many, as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable." God promised him that He would make him a nation. that would be so many, it'd be more than that of the sand of all the beaches, and it would be more than all the stars in the heavens. And yet here he is, he's a hundred years old, Sarah. She is almost a hundred, she's in her nineties. And when Sarah heard this, she laughed. and knew that she was past the child-bearing age. Now listen, God tested Abraham's faith by saying up in Genesis 22 verse 2, He says, Take now thy son, thy only son Isaac. Now God's specifying here because God did not view Ishmael as his son. It came through Hagar, the Egyptian, and all the trouble that we have in the Middle East is because of this one instance right here. Ishmael is a great hunter and a wild man, the Bible says. But so he specifies here that only his son Isaac, whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering unto one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Now, trusting God's provision. Abraham and Isaac, they get some men to help them pack the mules and the donkeys, and they set off for this distant mountain where they would draw near, and once they got there, they turned to the servants and told them to stay, and Abraham had brought the wood, and for the sacrifice, there's a certain altar the way they would stack the wood, and he had the torch, he had the fire, and he had a knife in his belt, And Isaac, we don't know how old Isaac is, but I would think he's not yet adulthood, but he's probably 17 or 18 some believe. He's worshipped before. He understands the criteria of worship. He understands the ingredients that he needed, and he looked around, he saw the fire, he saw the wood, he saw the knife, But he thinks, where's the lamb? Boy, there's a message in that right there, let me tell you. And he says in verse 7, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? And Abraham, trusting in the provision of God, And being the men of God and the men of faith he was, says to him in verse 8, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering. So they went both of them together. Now I want to jump up and down because I want to tell you God provided himself the lamb. John the Baptist says, when he sees Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And we see the wonderful type in this. So just as Abraham was ready to plunge the knife into this promised son, Isaac, God stops him. God speaks to him and says, Abraham, Abraham. Now get the visual of this. The fire is built. The wood is built. He has Isaac bound. Young person, we don't see Isaac. We don't hear Isaac fighting his father and mother. We don't see him arguing with his dad. We see him completely humble and submitting, and as he bound him for worship and laid him on the altar, I can see Abraham raise it up with that knife, and as he begins to come down to plunge it through his son, the angel of the Lord speaks to him and says, Abraham, Abraham, and stops him just in time. Now, as Abraham looked up, and saw this ram caught in the thicket. And by the way, Jesus Christ is that lamb who is our substitute. And he's caught in the thicket by his horns. He offers it instead and he calls the place, this hill, this top of the mountain Jehovah-Jireh or Jehovah-Jireh. I'm not sure which one you choose, which one you think is best. But it means, it interprets, God graciously provides. And it said it would be seen in the day of the Lord, and we believe this same mountaintop, later will be Golgotha Hill, where God did send the Lamb, the Lamb of God, to pay for our sins. Now Abraham believed God more than anything. In Hebrews 11 verse 19, the Bible says, According that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received him, in a figure. So we see here that in his obedience and in his faith to God for God's provision, he became this beautiful portrait of God the Father who offered His only begotten Son for the sins of the world. Now let me give you something here. Truth. Here's the truth. The essence of faith is trusting the provisions of God. If you underline in your Bible in verse 8, I wish you'd underline these three words. God will provide. God will provide. There are people who have needs. There are those who want children, but they're barren. Can I tell you something? God will provide. There are those who need a job. God will provide. There are those who are in a financial need, and not that they've been reckless, but they've been broadsided. Let me tell you something. God will provide. There are those who have gotten a result from a test and it's positive and there's some concerns that are there. God will provide. The psalmist asked the question, can God provide a table in the midst of the wilderness? And the answer is God can. God most certainly can. The essence of faith is trusting the provision of God. I preached last Sunday night about limiting God. In Psalm 78, the Bible says, Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. Verse 41 of Psalm 78 says, they limited the Holy One of Israel. And we can limit God, but I want to tell you something. Listen to me. God wants to provide the need that you have. You may feel like you're insignificant. You may feel like that you're not important. You may feel like that you're just some little blip on the face of the earth, but I want you to know if you're a child of God, you're a child of the King and you matter to Him. And we see here that the essence of faith is trusting the provision of God. All too often, we limit God. All too often, we're so quick with a visa, we're so quick with a MasterCard, we haven't even prayed about it, we have some great need that we have. I remember, and this is going back many years ago, about 44, 45 years ago, I was a very young, slim back then young man. I had this nice motorcycle. That's all I'm going to say right there. But if we're lucky, we'll get free rides on a Harley today after the service is over. But anyway, I got to tell you something. The call of God was on my life. I started preaching when I was 17. And I was lonesome. You know, marriage, the purpose of marriage is companionship. And I was lonesome. And I was trying to make it happen. I was trying to find that special one. But I hadn't prayed about it. And I got on my knees and I prayed something like this. God, I sure am lonesome. There's not a lot of gals who want a Bible thumper. There's not a lot of girls who want a preacher. I mean, let's face it, we're not going into the ministry to make money. And God, I'm so lonesome. Would you provide for me the wife that would... Minister to me my needs and be fit for the work of God And you know it wasn't but just shortly after that God brought Debbie into my life and that first day that we met I Let her to Jesus Christ. She was 18 and I let her to Jesus Christ and There was something about her that stuck out to me more than any other girl. She probably had less of any girl that I had ever dated and But yet there was a character and there was an integrity. And there was a measurable brainwave that I appreciate. Intellect has always been, I wanted someone who understood just because we had chicks didn't mean that we had money. And God brought her into my life. And he answered that prayer, and I haven't been lonesome now for some almost 43 years. I'm just telling you, listen, have you prayed about it? And when we pray, we shouldn't say, God, give me this. We say, God, reveal to me my need. There's something missing. There's something empty. There's something that I'm lacking. God revealed to me what it is, and then God, would you provide it for me? God will provide. Now, God's provision is always there. God provides all our needs. God's people have always had needs. Abraham needed a sacrifice. Isaac needed a wife. Jacob needed food. Moses needed the parted sea. Joshua needed a victory. Samson needed great strength. Ruth needed a home. David needed a prophet. Solomon needed wisdom. Nehemiah needed workers. Daniel needed protection. Ezekiel needed a vision. Peter needed faith. Saul needed a blinding light. John needed a revelation. And we needed a Savior. God will provide. Now you may have financial needs, you may need a job, you may need a spouse, you may need comfort, you may need peace, you might need some type of help with your grief, you might need, hey, you might just need a break. But God provides. God is certainly aware of our needs. God is not up in heaven wringing his divine hands together thinking, oh, it's a mess down there. What am I supposed to do? That's not who God is, my friend. God parts the Red Sea. God brings the giants down. God levels the walls. God can do anything. If thou canst believe, all things are possible if thou believeth. And to understand this, we need to go deeper in our faith for God to make that provision. None of these things surprise God. God is still on the throne, and He's still there. He desires in hearing from us, and let me tell you this, He wants to meet our needs. I have four children, and I have 13 grandchildren. And they're all my favorite. But when I see a need, if I can, if it's possible to meet that need, I just want to do it. I'm their papa. I'm their daddy. And let me tell you this. We can't imagine. That's the love a papa and a granny has for their grandchildren. And that's the love that a dad and a mom have for their children. But we cannot imagine the love God has for his children. You better understand this. God loves you. God adores you. God so much appreciates you in all of our failure, in all of our mess that we've caused, in all of our unloveliness. Let me tell you something. God created the roses, but he loves the thorns as well. And we see here that in Psalm 115, the Bible says, In Matthew 6, verse 26, the Bible says, 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?" Listen to me. God loves you. God wants you to humble yourself, fall on your face before Him and say, God, reveal to me what my true needs are, and then God will meet those needs. God knows our personal needs. He knows if it's money. He knows if you need rest. He knows if you need relief. He knows if you need peace. He knows what it is. He is not distant. He desires to be intimate and involved in our struggles. God's people have always had needs. God is certain and aware of our needs. And God is faithful to provide our needs. Now think back, can you think of a legitimate, I'm not talking about your wants. Some might want a really bad motorcycle, but that's what you want. That's not your need. God knows you wouldn't get out of the parking lot with it. That's the Holy Spirit speaking to me. Now, think back on a time in your life. Has there ever been a time that God didn't meet the need? I can look back. We can look back so much and we can just see. And can I tell you this? When we're young, we're too proud and we're too ignorant and we're too naive to see God's hand working in our lives. But when we get a little bit wiser down the road, we look back and we see, oh, that was God. Boy, I tell you what, that looked like it was going to be a bad thing. Boy, there was a time there, we weren't sure where to go, what to do, what to say, what was going to happen, but that was God. God was there. Now, he remembers Abraham remembers how God gave him land where he had no land. Abraham remembers how God gave him a son when he had no son, especially in old age. In Romans 4 verse 3, the Bible says, For what saith the Scriptures, Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now the Bible speaks about God being immutable, and the word immutable means that God doesn't change. He's the same yesterday, and today, and tomorrow. He doesn't change. He will open the storehouse of his riches and meet our needs. Listen folks, listen to me. I'm talking to somebody. The Spirit of God's led this way. I'm talking to somebody. You've got some needs. and you're trying to manipulate it, you're trying your best to make it work, you're climbing uphill. I mean, man, you are just killing yourself trying to get what you think you need when God's protecting you from it, He's guarding you from it, and He has something better. Anytime God says no, there's something better. There's been times God says yes, God says no, and God says wait. I do better with a no than I do the wait. Don't you? But I have to wait sometimes. But when God says yes, I rejoice. And when God says no, I rejoice. Because I know no good thing will he behold from them that walk uprightly. I know that. And if I want this and he says no, that means he's got something this better for me. And to say, how do you know that? Faith and experience and walking with him. When we were in Bible college, I had a big old Ford Galaxy 500. It was a terrible time. We could hardly eat. And that thing had a 351 Cleveland engine in it. It didn't get 10 miles at a gallon. And, you know, I was constantly running out of gas, trying to go to work, trying to go to class. And I prayed, and I prayed this. I said, God, would you provide one of those little economy rice burner cars for me? I'm not going to get through Bible college with this big old thing. It's just killing me. I don't make enough money to pay my school bill and buy groceries, pay the utility bill. I work in two jobs. God, God, God, would you, would you? I said, God, on that Ford Galaxy, we had four tires. They were Maypop tires. They may pop, they may not. One day I came out and I had three flats. And man, I mean, I didn't check the air. I could just look through the tire and see the air. So, you know, they were not black on the bottom, they were white in places. And I said, God, if you'll provide this for me, just a little rush. I said, God, it doesn't have to look nice, but if it just has a little four banger in it, if it's a standard so all Mediterranean mission won't go bad, God, it doesn't even have to have a radio, just four nice tires, would you do that? And with my hand up, this is absolute truth, God provided for us a Toyota Celica. And what is that? For Toyota, it was their Camaro. It was a four-speed. Or five, I don't remember. It had AM FM stereo. I think a cassette player. Some of you don't know what that is, but you use tape pencils to wind them tight. Okay. Telling the truth, Arna. And we played records, too. That was a real big CD that we had back then. And four brand-new Michelin tires on it. And I went back, and there was this brother who had gotten sick. He worked at a man's clothing store. He had gotten sick. And he lost about 40 pounds. I mean, he looked like a rake walking around. He was so skinny, he'd fall through the drain in the shower. He was so skinny, he'd have to jump around to get wet. He was so skinny, he'd turn sideways and stick his tongue out and look like a zipper. He was skinny. But we were the same size. And he says, Rick, I got all these clothes from the man's fashion warehouse, and I can't wear them. And we were the same size. Do you want them? I said, yeah, I'll take them. So I had all these new suits, three-piece. They wore vests back then. And man, I looked like $100, driving this red sports car. It's a flaming red Toyota Celica. And we went home and came back with these suits and with these cars, and everybody in college was talking. You know how they are in Bible college. Man, they got money. They didn't know our utilities were turned off, but we looked good and we were driving fine, let me tell you. I'm just saying, God can meet the need. The problem is, we don't trust Him, we try to manipulate things, we try to make it happen, we trudge up the mountain, we want our way, we think we know what we need, we think we know what we want, when we're not trusting God. And it's not until we ask God to reveal to us what our needs are, And when he says no, it's because his yes is way up here. Now, God provides for us. He's the immutable God. He is one who is always faithful. He's been faithful in the past. He will be faithful in the future. Philippians 4.19, but my God, whose God is He? He's my God. My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He is not limited in His riches. We just need to discover what our needs are and we need to turn to Him for it. He'll open. His storehouse of riches to us. So, God provides all our needs. Secondly, let me say to you, God provides through obedience. Now, this is where things get a little bit careful. See, we have this vision that we say, God, I need X, Y, Z. He goes, bink. He's our little genie in the bottle. We pull him out of the bottle when we need him. And when we, you know, whatever we want, we go rub the bottle, we say abracadabra, and God, our genie, comes out and goes, bink, let it be thy will. And no, no, no, no, let me tell you something. You've been listening to me on this. God provides through our obedience. You know why a lot of Christians aren't seeing answers to prayer and aren't having their needs met? They're walking contrary to this book. That's why. You know, I love my grandkids. Years ago, we were having a workday like yesterday. And I think Ella was probably three. And we were out at the church sign and we were pulling some things up and and pulling some weeds up and doing some things out there. And Ella's like, she's three or maybe four. She's out there with us and she's helping us. She's helping us. And she's out there and And I don't remember if it was Debbie or if it was me. I think it was Debbie. It sounds like Debbie more than it does me. And Ella was doing something. She's throwing dirt or something she shouldn't be doing. And she said, Ella, Ella, stop that. And she just kept doing it. wicked, wicked, rebellious young child, and stopped doing that. And she kept doing it. And she said, Ella, don't make me have to spank you. And she looked at me and she said, grand. I said, Ella, you'll get a spanking. And she said, Papa. She stopped throwing dirt, but she didn't get a spanking either. But You know what? I think if Jameson was disrespectful to me, or maybe Bear was disrespectful to me, and he came up to me and says, Papa, will you take me bowling? No, you're not going bowling today. Papa, will you take me miniature golfing? Go talk to your grandpa. I'm not taking you nowhere. You need to be taken to the woodshed. You know, we don't reward our kids or our grandkids for disobedience. What makes us think we can get anything from God when we walk in disobedience? God says disobedience, listen to what I'm saying to you, is evil. The 10 spies out of the 12 that came back gave an evil report and they had an evil heart of unbelief, is what God says. And we think God is our genie. We hear point one, God provides. Man, I love that. Hallelujah. God provides. Let me teach them. It's conditional upon our obedience. You see, God tests our faith. Genesis 22, verse 1. And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here I am. Now the word tempt here is not tempting or causing to do evil. The Hebrew word actually translates to be tested, to put to the test is what it actually means. So God, He is going to test Abraham here. this son that he's waited for a hundred years, this son that he's waited to multiply as the grains of sand and the stars in the heavens. Now God tells him to take him at a young age to some mountain place that he just needs to go out and roam until he comes to it, and God revealed to him which mountain it is, and go up there, build an altar, and plunge a knife through him, and burn him as a burning sacrifice. God is testing him. Psalm 11 verse 5 says, the Lord trieth the righteous. Psalm 17 verse 3 says, Thou hast proved my heart, and Thou hast visited me in the night, Thou hast tried me. Jeremiah 17 verse 10 says, I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins. Job said in Job 23 verse 10, But he knoweth the way that I take, when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. 1 Peter 1, verse 7 says, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. God tests our faith. And we're failing the test. When we don't get what we want, we send out our own tentacles of manipulation. We just try to make... God, I'll deal with this. Never mind this. I've prayed about this. God's testing us, and we're failing to test. We need to understand that God does not test us because He does not know how strong our faith is. He's omniscient. He knows exactly how strong our faith is. He is testing our faith to show us how strong or how weak we really are. I think the same way God tests individuals, he tests all believers and churches as well. You see, I think God wants to take the Bethel Baptist Church to the next step. But I want to tell you something. The faith of one's not going to do that. It's gonna be the faith of many. Some of you who walk in this beautiful building today in this beautiful campus, I want to tell you this. A lot of people who made this responsible are planted in the ground now. They had great faith. They stood to their feet. They said, let's move north. And I want you to know, my friend, they made great sacrifice to make this happen today. It was through their faith. Now we passed God's test through obedience. Question, what did God want from Abraham? The faith to obey. What does God want from us? The faith to obey. And that's the test, and that's why we don't have or get what we think we want or need. You see, God's test for us may be the obedience of witnessing to a lost co-worker. His test might be being convicted and getting victory over some bad habit or sin. His test might be filling in some position or making something happen at the church. His test might be making a provision through tithes and offerings. Listen, the more we obey, the more we trust, The more we step out of faith, the greater the blessing and provision from God is. That's not a prosperity gospel. That's the truth. Now, we need to trust Him in His abundant provision. So what are his abundant provisions? Let me tell you. Our God provides abundant joy. Psalm 36, verse 8, "...they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house." He provides abundant life. John 10, 10, "...the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." But how come that you might have life? that you might have it more abundantly. He provides abundant grace. 2 Corinthians 9, verse 8, And God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that ye also, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. He provides abundant power, Ephesians 3, verse 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, he provides abundant entrance into heaven, 2 Peter 1, verse 11. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly unto the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the God of abundant provisions. We have abundant joy, we have abundant life, we have abundant grace, we have abundant power, we have abundant entrance into heaven because of Him. Now lastly, God provides all our needs God provides through our obedience. Lastly, God provides just at the right time. God is not late. God is not early. God is right on time. 2 Peter verse 111 says, "...for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly." Let me move down somewhere. Look at verse 8. God provides just in the right time. Our timing is always is always on God's timing. Abraham told Isaac in verse 8, and Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb. Now Abraham trusted God's timing. God would provide in his time. Question is, do we trust God's timing? When I was in Bible college, the mailbox became an idol unto me. And we were struggling. We were married. We were off campus. As a married couple, we had a child had a child on the way. And things were very tight. It was very hard back in those days. Jimmy Carter was president gas was $1.30. Ridiculous. went over $1. We knew we're going to be would stop buying it eventually. But think back, if you would, about trusting God and Him meeting the needs. One semester I was owing like, I don't know, just under $300 on my school bill. If you didn't have your bill paid, by time to take finals, you are not allowed to take the finals and you lost the whole semester. So if we didn't eat, if we didn't pay the light bill, we paid that school bill, but I was just under you remember this debit under $300. There were guys that were there that had the GI bill that paid part of their school bill, but they were not paying their bill with it. And they would get up in chapel and they would make you feel this big if your school bill wasn't paid. So I went in to the dean's office, one of the dean's offices, and I said, Listen, I feel about this big after what you said in chapel today, and I want you to know I'm honest, and I don't want my integrity questioned. We do without all the time. And I don't have my bill pay. I understand I signed a piece of paper that if my bills not paid, I can't take finals and I lose the summit, I get that. But I want to know I pay my bills. And I'm working. I'm working two jobs. And the dean looked at me and I forget he's smiling. He says, Rick, Rick, you always take care of business. It's these guys who have the GI loan that money that's designated for that there's not paying their bill. I said, Well, I wish you would clarify that next chapel time. We had a man come to Georgia, to Valdosta, Georgia. Grays have some family there. And a great church, open door Bible Baptist church, Pastor Carol Joy. Matter of fact, our daughter Joy is named after them, J-O-Y-E. And they were a great blessing to Debbie and I. And Dr. Joy called me one day and says, Rick, we have Dr. Alexander Marx coming. He's blind. And would you consider coming up and just being a help to him? My father was blind, so I knew a lot about blind people. I knew how to how to lead people and how to help blind people. And I said, I'd be glad to do that. And I came up and. And I met Dr. Alexander Marx. Now, Dr. Alexander Marx was a Jew who escaped the Holocaust in Germany to England, and he had this English accent. I say—where's Jackie? Is she in the nursery? I say, we'll have a little spot of tea at 3 o'clock. That's my English accent. And he would say, I would pick him up for breakfast. And he said, Oh, brother, brother, can we go to that restaurant that has the blueberry mutton muffins? And would you order me tea boiling hot mind you boiling hot? And he didn't mean hot. He mean bubbles in in the tea vessel. And I, I tried to be a help to him. I so much enjoyed him. He's with the Lord now for many years. But just the week or two, I think it was just a week before, I'm not sure, it's been a long time, just a week before, I go to my college post office box and there's an envelope in there addressed to me and I opened up, it's a letter from Dr. Alexander Marks. He would always say, I'm a Jew with an English accent and a German Shepherd dog. Thought he would always say. He had a dog named Gretchen, his C&I dog, German Shepherd. And she was older. She actually, in New York, he lived in New York City. And he was crossing the street and a car was screeching and Gretchen broke away from him and ran back and jumped on his chest and pushed him out of the way. Makes me want to cry a little bit. And she was hit by the car and killed. She saved his life. Great dog. We got a new dog named Elsa. And she was young. And he said, Oh, brother, Elsa is young. Would you like to see her run? I said, Sure. He said, Elsa, Elsa. And then Elsa would start running everywhere out there, you know. And one time we were in a hotel downtown, it was the CME convention. And all hotels are packed, the CME. And we were there and we said, can we see Elsa run, Dr. Marks? And he says, Elsa, and Elsa's running up and down that corridor of the hotel, and people are screaming and banging on the door saying, let me in, there's a German police dog out here, let me in, let me in. It was not a good thing for us to do, but I have fond memories of Dr. Marks. I got this envelope in my post office box, and I opened it up. It's a letter from Dr. Marks, a little card. And he says, Dear Brother, thank you so much for your kindness and the time that you spent with me. And in there was a check for like $350 made out to me. And it was from the National Jewish Mission Board of New York City. Now I didn't call him and tell him that I was not Jewish. I didn't tell him that. But let me tell you, I walked in to that office that day, and I said, I'm here to settle up my bill. I get to take my finals. I said, God's provided for me. And I paid that, and I took Debbie and my bus worker and his wife out to a fancy Mexican restaurant. I said, well, Pastor, why don't you save that money? No, we needed to do something. And she had been so faithful with not so little, just with nothing. I want to tell you this. God wants to meet your needs. You see, our timing is not always God's timing. Abraham trusted God's timing. And too often, we get anxious. We pray something like this, Lord, give me patience to give it to me now. But God's timing is perfect. God tells us in Philippians 4, 6, be careful for nothing. Don't worry. Don't fret. Be careful for nothing, Corrie Ten Boom. She wrote The Hiding Place, other books as well. But she says all worry does is empty today of its strength. Something along that line. You see, when they had the altar built, I see the vivid picture. The wood was stacked. Isaac's tied. He pulls the knife out. The Bible says he stretches forth his hand. He's coming down. The angel of the Lord stops him. Now listen, God wasn't early. He didn't stop him at the foot of the mountain. God wasn't late. He didn't wait for him to plunge the knife through Isaac. God was right on time. And God's timing is always perfect. And it's in those times that we need to focus on that truth and that principle and saying, it is well with my soul. Now, we need to trust in his timing. We can trust God exactly, His precision, He is perfect, His timing is perfect in our lives. We can, Philippians 4, 6, be careful for nothing because God will provide just what we need, just when we need it, not a moment too soon, not a moment too late. God's people said. Lord, help us tonight or this morning. Lord, we fret. We have great anxiety. Worry will indicate great failure of our belief in you. For, Lord, the essence of faith is trusting the provision of God. If we are worried, over something we're not trusting in your provision. Lord, we might not necessarily have weak faith. We just need to go deeper in our faith. We may not have weak faith, but we might need great faith. For God provides all our needs. God provides through our obedience. And God provides just at the right time. Now heads about and eyes are closed, listen to me carefully. If you're here this morning, you've had that spiritual awakening, you know for certain heaven's your home. There's no doubt about it. Would you raise your hand saying, yes, I've been saved. I know heaven's my home. Raise it up high. God bless you. Now put your hands down. How many of this morning would say, pastor, this message was for me. I have some needs. I need God to intervene on my behalf. Would you raise your hand up? all across the auditorium. Are you listening? I need God to intervene in my life to show himself something strong. You may put your hands down. Now God provides for his Christians, for his children, but let me tell you something. He's the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. If you're here this morning or if you're watching live stream, he has provided salvation if you'll just come. or right where you are in your living room or where you may be listening to this message, you can stop and say, Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner. I believe Jesus Christ is the son of God, died on the sins for my cross, for my sins on the cross. And I ask you to forgive me my sins and to save me, take me to heaven when I die. God has provided salvation for those who are without. If you're not sure heaven's your home, Christ has provided salvation free and clear. It's the gift of God, not of works, as many men should boast. Now, those of you who raised your hand and said, I have needs. Is there something in your life, some area of unbelief, some area of disobedience you're not obeying? You're walking contrary to the principles of His Word. And just like this papa wouldn't grant blessings to his grandchildren who are walking disobediently, Why would God grant the wishes and desires that we have when we're not obeying his word? If you're here this morning, heads are bowed, listen to me carefully. I'm asking you to be extremely honest. No one's looking, but you say, Pastor, there are some things in my life that I know is not honoring God, and this is probably hindering those provisions. Would you raise your hand? Anyone? Yes. Yes. Yes. Anyone else? Yes. God bless you. Put your hands down. Stand with me this morning. Lord, help us to come and address the areas of unbelief and disobedience. Show us our needs. Lord, There's a ram caught in the thicket by their horns for every one of your children. And you desire to be intimate and to bless us. But we must believe and we must walk in obedience. Meet our needs this morning. Let us take that that that need that burden that we have. Let us stop trying to manipulate and have our way. And wait on you and ask you to bless. And when it happens, may we know this is the hand of God. In thy name, I pray. This morning, as God spoke to your heart, won't you step out and come?