God Is In Control, And Christian, He Cares For You (Genesis 22:20-24)
Have you ever looked at a tapestry? Have you ever looked at the back of a tapestry?
A picture is sewn into the fabric. Some of these are quite beautiful, on the front. The final picture is beautiful. But the back looks like a complete mess. The artist, who knew what they were doing, placed every thread where it was supposed to go. But when all you see is the back of the tapestry it just looks like a jumbled-up mess.
But here is what I want us to consider today. We live our lives seeing mostly the back of the tapestry. We don’t see the entire picture that God is weaving with our lives.
This makes a bit of sense when we consider our marriages. I grew up in Harrison, Arkansas and my wife in Fort Smith. Her life was very different from mine. Even our interests throughout those years were different. She was in band. I was in Football. We probably wouldn’t have gotten along in High School. But God was working in both cities on each of us to eventually bring the two of us together. And for that, I am incredibly blessed. We met at Arkansas Tech University in the music department and the rest is history, as they say.
And this is a story that many people in this room can relate to. When they sit down and think about it, God was working in such a way that two people were brought together. They had a family, children, grandchildren, a home, and looking back they can see that God orchestrated something special in bringing the two of them together.
That is the kind of thing we see here at the end of Genesis 22. This is the reason we get these four verses at the end of Genesis 22. God made huge promises concerning Isaac and was already preparing a bride for him back in Abraham’s homeland. God was already at work fulfilling the promises given to Abraham.
In theological terms, this is what we call God’s Providence.
We understand that God is sovereign that He ordains whatever comes to pass. It’s another way of describing God’s complete control over all things. This is taught throughout the Scriptures, but is seen very plainly in Ephesians 1:11.
“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11 ESV)
God is working all things according to the counsel of His will. God’s Providence is similar. In fact, we might call it a subset of God’s sovereignty. When we discuss God’s Providence we are talking about God’s care for and provision for all of Creation, including your life.
When we think about our marriages, we can see that God was working all along to bring us together. When we think about the promises that God made to Abraham, we can see that God had already brought about Isaac’s spouse, Rebekah, from his family.
God’s Providence is what I want us to focus on today. It is God’s care over all of creation, and today we will speak about God’s care over your life. God is sovereign, nothing happens outside of God’s plan. And God who is in control of all things, cares for you.
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:28-33 ESV)
God Is At Work, Even When You Can’t See It (Genesis 22:20-23)
Things have been quiet for a long time, except for God calling on Abraham to sacrifice his only son. And Abraham’s journey out of his hometown was decades ago. But, as is usually the case, life continued to proceed without him back in his hometown. His family continued to have children. And, some of these people we will catch snippets from throughout the Old Testament.
Here are some of the family members we later run into. The family of Buz became an Arabian tribe that we run into in Jeremiah 25:23. Aram, we hear from again in 2 Kings 8:29 under the name of Ram. And Maacah became a small Arabian kingdom that we read of in 2 Samuel 10:6,8).
But the reality is that there is one name that matters more than all the others, with regard to God’s Promises and the story of Abraham and Isaac. That name is the only woman mentioned in this list. It is Rebekah.
God was preparing a wife for Isaac. She is why this list matters and makes sense in our story. Even when Abraham and his family were not around to see what was going on, the Lord was preparing a wife for him. Even when they did not know it was happening, God was at work.
We move through life without the whole picture. We see only the bottom of the tapestry. We see a lot of individual threads around us, but we do not see the whole picture. And we don’t think a lot about other things that are happening, especially many miles away.
When I begin to think about all the things that take place just for me to have food on the table, it is astounding. Some of you have heard this before, but I’ll go through it again.
How do you get bread?
Well, the farmer has to have seed from last year’s wheat crop. And the farmer must plant the seed in soil that has the right nutrients. And the seed must get plenty of sunshine and rain for it to sprout and grow. Then the farmer cuts the wheat, and it is likely processed somewhere else. That was quite a process. And then we have to do it for milk, butter, sugar, salt, yeast, and anything else I may be missing. God is overseeing a lot of things in a lot of different places just for us to have bread on our table. And this is a process that we can go through with most anything we eat.
Does God really bother Himself with things so small? Yes.
And again, Jesus’s words from Matthew 10 are helpful.
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:28-33 ESV)
In a sermon Charles Haddon Spurgeon said this about the small things,
“To suppose that temporal things are too little for our condescending God, is to forget that he observes the flight of sparrows, and counts the hairs of his people’s heads. Besides, everything is so little to him, that, if he does not care for the little, he cares for nothing.” – Charles Spurgeon
God provides for us in innumerable ways, and we don’t see it happening. We have jobs that provide for our food, clothing, and shelter. Thank God that He gave us those jobs. A lot was orchestrated in order for you to have that job. We have friends and family that have been given to us by God. We have food, clothing, and shelter. God is working in a whole lot of small things to give us what we need in life.
We tend to notice the big things, that time your car broke down or something made you late and you would have ended up in a horrible accident. Maybe it was that time that your child almost did something very scary, but something stopped them before they really hurt their selves. We tend to notice those things and praise God for them, as we should. But God is always at work sustaining us and moving our lives forward in ways that we don’t even notice.
And there is another situation that should be noted. God is at work, even when we suffer. In times of suffering, it can really feel as if God is not at work in our lives. But time and time again we see that God is always at work in our lives for our ultimate good and for His glory.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30 ESV)
We oftentimes do not understand at all what God is doing. But God is at work. And though it may not make sense at any point during our lives, there is coming a day when it will all make sense. So we entrust ourselves to the loving care of our Lord even in the most difficult of struggles in this life.
One example of this comes from the end of the Book of Genesis. Joseph had gone through many hardships. His brothers threw him into a pit. He was sold into slavery. He was falsely accused of a crime. And God used all of it to raise Joseph to power in Egypt and put him in a place in which he could save the people of Israel from certain death. And Joseph understood that. When his brothers thought Joseph would get revenge notice what he said instead,
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20 ESV)
God is at work, though we struggle to see it. God is at work, though it seems quite the opposite. God is providentially caring for us. All things are somehow working together for our ultimate good.
God Is At Work, Keeping His Promises (Genesis 22:20-24, Romans 8:28-30)
God made promises to Abraham and God would keep those promises. And what we notice about the promises that God made to Abraham is that Isaac needed to marry for those things to be fulfilled. And, God had already been at work preparing a wife for him.
God made many promises to Abraham that depended upon offspring, Genesis 12:1-3.
“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)
God promised Abraham that He would make a great nation of him. That could only be accomplished through and offspring that produced. God was already at work to fulfill all that through the bringing up of a wife for Isaac. God had miraculously brought about Isaac’s life and had been working without Abraham’s knowledge on a wife for his son.
God was already making Abraham’s name great. We have seen how this was taking place throughout the narrative of Abraham’s life. And there were already beginning to be blessings upon those who blessed Abraham, though this would also be fulfilled at other times throughout history.
All the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham’s family. That promise is fulfilled in Christ, who would come much later.
“Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16 ESV)
God miraculously raised up Isaac and Rebecca who would have children and their children would have children, and that nation would be protected through many trials until one day Jesus Christ was born.
Jesus Christ was God the Son who was born of the Virgin Mary, who was one of the children of Abraham, so was Jesus’s earthly father, Joseph. God the Son took on human flesh and walked among us. He lived a perfect life and died on the cross as the punishment for sin. Those who turn from ruling their own lives and trust in Him are united to Him by faith. Therefore, their sins are paid for on the cross and His perfect life is credited to their account. God worked all of this out, outside of you. And the proclamation of this message will go to the nations, which is how all the families of the Earth are blessed in Abraham.
Consider this as well, God providentially had someone declare the gospel either to you, in person, or placed you in a position to hear it. And God worked in you to cause you to believe. –if you think I’m lying, just consider that you could have been born in a place with little to no gospel witness. You could have been born in a jungle somewhere that the people have never heard the name of Jesus. You could have been born in a city in America
God causes His people to persevere to the end. It’s not that we get our ticket punched and then we make it into Heaven. It is that God keeps us and causes us to persevere. That entails a lot of different variables, but we trust that God keeps His people. (John 10:27-29, Philippians 1:6, 1 Peter 1:3-5, Jude 1:24)
Notice what Jesus says about His people.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29 ESV)
It is God who keeps His people safe.
And notice what Paul says in the often quoted Philippians 1:6.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6 ESV)
God is at work in the life of the believer, not just making sure that they have their ticket punched, but bringing the work of their salvation to completion.
Or what about Peter,
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV)
We are caused to be born again by the Lord, our living hope is being kept, and we are ourselves being “guarded”.
And lastly, notice what Paul says in Jude 1:24.
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,” (Jude 1:24 ESV)
God is able and will keep us from stumbling and present us blameless. God will do this work.
God is providentially overseeing the salvation of His people. And He will not fail to present us blameless on that Final Day.
And we also know that God is expanding His Kingdom on Earth as we speak. All the families of the Earth are to be blessed and we know that this is taking place, even as we speak. We don’t see everything that is taking place, but the people of God are on the move in the power of the Holy Spirit. God is at work, though it doesn’t seem like it’s happening in our neck of the words. God is at work keeping His promises.
God has and will accomplish all those things that He has promised.
Conclusion
God’s providence is a topic that should be near and dear to us. It’s about His care over us. It’s about His love and kindness toward us. It’s about the way He preserves us, though we don’t know that it is happening in the moment. It’s not always immediately obvious to us that God is caring for us. But at all times, we need to know that God is providentially caring for us.
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:28-33 ESV)
God who is in control of all things, cares for you.
Back in 1837 a man named Willem ten Boom, who was a Christian, opened a clock shop where people in need were often helped. The ten Boom’s harbored, sometimes seven people per day in their home that were fleeing the Nazis. Corrie, Willem’s daughter, became a leader in a network of people working to save Jewish people and other political refugees from the Nazis. The estimation is that around 800 lives were saved through their efforts.
The time the family dreaded came to pass when someone betrayed them and a trap was laid by the Gestapo, who captured and imprisoned 20 people involved in this endeavor. Corrie ten Boom and her family ended up imprisoned and she ended up in the Ravensbruck concentration camp. Through a clerical error Corrie was able to leave the concentration camp and go back home, but the rest of her family had died for their efforts.
Corrie ten Boom would often speak and use the illustration of a tapestry when she discussed God’s Providence and what He was doing in her life. God is the One who knows the picture He is weaving with our lives. We only see the underside of the tapestry and are struck by how ugly things can be. But God sees the beautiful picture that He is weaving, not just with out lives but with all of creation.
I would like to close with a poem that Corrie ten Boom wrote called “The Master Weaver’s Hand”.
My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.
Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned
He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.
God who is in control of all things, cares for you. Right now we only get to see the backside of the tapestry. But God, who is in control of all things does not. He sees the whole picture. And He is weaving a glorious picture together. God, who is in control of all things, cares for you.
R. Dwain Minor