Wednesday, September 5, 2007
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They're usually some of the most exciting moments in sports; the touchdown or field goal that wins the game with no time left on the clock. That game-winning basket as the final buzzer sounds. The game-winning home run with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning. Whatever the sport, there is nothing like a sudden victory when victory seems out of reach. It makes the fans go ballistic.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Last-Second Victories."
It can be really nerve-wracking when you're behind and time is running out, but it's really thrilling when a hero pulls it out at the last minute. The longer I walk with this God of ours, the more I've come to appreciate Him as the God of the last-second victory, the God of the eleventh hour, as I've called Him so often.
The Bible reveals many names by which God wants us to know Him. One that has meant so much to so many for so long is the name Jehovah-jireh. It means, "The Lord will provide." You may be facing a need or situation right now where that is literally your only hope - that the Lord will provide. Maybe it's a job, a friend, the funds you need, the person you need, the answer you need, maybe the house, the healing, the breakthrough you need.
We have this rock-solid promise in Philippians 4:19 that "my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." God's supply has nothing to do with what's happening in the economy, in the news, at work, in what your resources can do. It's all about His unlimited "Jesus-account" in heaven, which transcends every limitation earth has.
To be honest, God often waits a while to meet that need. And that's when we tend to panic, to come up with some desperate way to meet the need on our own, to abandon our trust in God because, He's - well, He's taking too long. Which takes us right out of the will of God and aborts what God was going to do. It's in Genesis 22, where we find our word for today from the Word of God, that God is known as Jehovah-jireh for the very first time. We can learn a lot from how He worked that day for Abraham. Abraham had, by faith, obeyed God's direction to take the son God had once promised to him, climb Mt. Moriah with him, and sacrifice his son there; as God Himself would do one day when Jesus died on the cross.
Believing that God will somehow provide something he can't imagine, Abraham promises his servants that both he and his son Isaac will return from the mountain. Genesis 22:10 says his faith and obedience went so far that "he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son." At that very last moment, God stopped him and showed Abraham a ram, stuck in a thicket, who would be sacrificed instead of his son. And the Bible says, "So Abraham called that place, 'The Lord Will Provide.'" Jehovah-jireh - making His move when there was no time left.
Now, about your need. God loves to come through for us when there is absolutely no place else that answer could come from, and there is no time left on the clock. It's 11:59. The buzzer is about to sound. God shows up with His provision at a time and in a way that will blow you away, that will give Him all the glory, that will show the people around you the greatness of your God and take you to a whole new level of faith and worship. God's last-minute victories are some of the most awesome moments of your life. So don't lose faith now. The greater the need, the later the hour, the more amazing God's work on your behalf is going to be. Hang in there until the end of the game, because that is when God really does His stuff!