Because God always provides, we can confidently follow Him anywhere.
SCRIPTURE | Genesis 24:1-67
CENTRAL TRUTH
Providence is God’s involvement and work in His creation and in our lives. God isn’t distant. He is actively involved in our lives and working to bring about His plans for us.
Key question
Why do we lack confidence in God’s plans? What does this cause us to do?
Keep in Mind
A big part of faith is putting it into action. Would it be faith if we didn’t? It’s one thing to say we have faith when all of our plans are working out or when life feels easy. But it’s another thing to follow God’s lead when it seems to take us places we don’t want to go or when it presses us to do something we don’t want to do. So, what makes it possible for our students to have faith in those times? How can they say yes even when it seems scary? By trusting in God’s provision. We trust that He has provided; He is providing; and He will provide, no matter where He leads us and no matter what He asks of us. God isn’t distant: He is directly involved in even the smallest details of our lives. As we give our yes to God, we can know we’re under His provision. Every detail in our lives, the good ones and the difficult ones, can work for our good because of His active work.
APPLICATION
How can looking back at God’s faithfulness help you in the present?
THE WIN
FOR THE STUDENT: Students can look back at old journal entries; make a list of the ways God came through for them even when they doubted He would; name the ways God has been good to them or answered their prayers; or ask someone else to share how they’ve seen God work in their lives. When we commit to remember, we center our hearts on God’s faithfulness.
FOR THE LEADER: Throughout Scripture, God tells His people to remember; He urges them to recall all of the ways He led them to freedom (Ex. 13:3; 19:4; Deut. 6:10-12). They’d often set up markers, like stones, to help them remember. Many of us, if not all of us, will face times when we waver in our confidence in God. We look at our circumstances and they seem to tower over our weak faith. They overshadow all of the ways God has been faithful in the past. Consider the command God gave the Israelites: what markers can you set up to remember God’s faithfulness each day?
