Covenantal Provision & Covenantal Promise

 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” Genesis 26:1-5, English Standard Version

There is provision; then there is covenantal provision. Provision flows out of God’s common grace, His goodness showered to all people like good rains, sunshine and the like; covenantal provision flows out of His special grace to those who have set themselves apart to His mission in the earth. So when the economy goes belly up, a drought sets in, or things just don’t work out, covenantal provision kicks in to provide for God’s person on His mission.

Covenantal provision is always based on God’s covenant promise. He made covenant with Abraham and promised to bless him with land, innumerable descendants, and use him and his children as a conduit for blessing to this cursed world fulfilled by the redemption brought by His son Jesus Christ. Abraham’s obedience set his son Isaac to be in line for God’s covenantal provision when there was a famine in the Promised Land. (By the way, the fact that you are where God said you should be or done what God said you should do, is no guarantee that things won’t go bad. The only guarantee the saint has in this fallen world is God’s ability to pull him/her through to complete his/her mission. And, of course, the guarantee of the ever-present evil of this fallen world).  

So Isaac moves to Gerar from the Promised Land. Before he makes his way to Egypt – read big city, big lights – God says to him to remain in Gerar and that He would bless him according to His covenant with Abraham his father. That should have gone against the grain of thinking in such hard times when people flock to the big cities where there is the hope sustenance. For God’s person on mission what matters is not what everybody says makes sense or what one thinks makes sense but what God says. Because when Isaac stayed, he set himself up for covenantal provision that manifested itself in God’s protection, prosperity, perseverance, and promotion.

May you not make a decision today based simply on what makes sense to you, is profitable to you, or is easy to do! May you not move where you are to “greener pastures” just because everyone around you is doing so! May you seek to hear from God and move when God says to! May you remember today that His path is the one of greater glory for you than your survival path!