come home about the God who gives Abraham a son and a promise about grandchildren and great grandchildren, and then asks that he kill his only son and burn him on a sacrificial altar. We could go on for hours about how a loving God would never ask Abraham to give up Isaac - even as a test. We can discuss the reason God had to test Abraham in such a cruel and heartless way. But the fundamental fact remains -- Abraham trusted God and believed that he would provide and he did. The Lord provided. I can hear Abraham say to Isaac when he saw the ram caught in the bush, "See that Isaac! I told you the Lord would provide a lamb for the burnt offering." God will provide. So often we act and speak as if we had to provide. We talk as if everything depended on us. We feel that we need to have everything under control, every angle covered. Be hardheaded. Take no risks. The Lord helps those who help themselves, and so forth. If we wait for i-s to be dotted and the t-s crossed before we did anything then we wouldn't get around to doing too much at all. When God told Noah to build a boat -- not just any boat but one of massive proportions -- do we hear of Noah wanting to know all the whys and wherefores before he started building? This was a huge undertaking no doubt costly