Provided For

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

PROVIDED FOR

Acts 7:11-16

11 "Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.

NIV

We are still within the history lesson Stephen is teaching the Sanhedrin. We do not know if every Jew is so familiar with their history as Stephen was, yet we Americans are familiar with our history, the American revolution, the declaration of Independence, the establishment of our constitution and so forth, so it is not beyond reason most Jews knew all that Stephen was explaining to the Sanhedrin. But what, if any life lesson about our relationship with God can we learn from this portion of history? Certainly the account of Joseph, which ends with his bringing his whole family into Egypt to provide for them, shows us the providence of God. A question that does seem need to be asked is, did God bring about the famine so Jacob would have to come down to Egypt so they would be eventually enslaved in order for God to deliver them? Through God’s provision after some years they became servants of an earthly king. Was this all part of his plan? Was it his plan that when he did deliver them they were are to take an incredible amount of wealth with them? We may never know the complete truth about all that, until we reach heaven, but what we can be reminded of, is that God will always provide. He provided for them during the famine, and he provided Moses to lead them out of bondage. It does not matter what situations we might find ourselves in this life, God will always provide. God has a plan for our life, which he has always had, to be reconciled to him. Yes he orders our footsteps, he leads us in paths of righteousness. His plan might include relocation from one place to another. His plan might include some hard times. His plan might include times of abundance. But his plan is and always has been for us to see his provision for us, his redemptive plan for our salvation. Although God had chosen those Hebrews to reveal himself to mankind, to show every aspect of his personality, he has since poured out his Spirit on all mankind, so that we all can know his Spirit, his plan for our life, to be reconciled to him. Yes, he continues to provide for us throughout our lives, as he did for those children of Israel. He continues to provide our daily bread as he did the manna from heaven. He continues to lead us not into temptation, but he does in fact deliver us from evil, as he led those children of Israel out of the control of an evil Pharaoh. God will always direct us in a way so that we understand it is him who provides. When we start looking to our own abilities to provide for our needs, we miss out on the provision of God. We cannot be sure why those children of Israel waited so long, four hundred years, to cry out to God to provide a solution to their problem. Maybe they thought they could handle the situation alone without God, we are not sure, but the fact is they were not able to handle their situation without God. If we begin to think like those Israelites we might well be stuck in our situation, but if we continue to trust in God’s hand of provision, he will always led us to the place we should be, he will always provide. We will always be provided for.