The Lord will provide?

One of the most famous Christianese phrases from the Bible is the line "The Lord will provide", which comes from the story where Abraham is told to sacrifice Issac, but God instead provides a ram in a thicket (Gen 22:1-18). This is used as an attitude within the faith that states that whatever we go through in life, God will ultimately provide what is needed. And this has always brought much hope to me as Im sure it has to others throughout the centuries, but recently I've noticed a negative aspect to this attitude.

Ever since graduating college two years ago, I've been waiting for something to hit. Waiting for my life to blossom in full-bloom and live a life of purpose and direction. Sadly, it never seems to happen. And many times I've wondered why, since this basic principle of the Lord providing should be at work in my life...shouldn't it? Shouldn't God lavish me with blessings and opportunity for firmly placing my hope in His wise guidance and great plan as I always have? Shouldn't my prayerful requests grant me a fulfilling career, money and a successful love life to boot? Dont I deserve these things? Why then has the Lord not been providing for me?

Then I one day I wondered whether this idea of waiting on God to provide can actually give us the opposite of peace? Maybe in its extremes, it could actually cause us to be depressed simply because God hasnt given us the life we need, or the life we want? It certainly seemed to be the case for me, anyways. Rather than take some responsibility for my own situations, I wanted to blame God for not blessing me as well as others (or at least blame the Devil for being all-up-in-my-grill, as they say). This, I now see, was a big mistake because I've come to realize that its probably not Gods job to do everything for me, or everything for any of us.

Regardless of how you see the free will vs determinism issue, I think its safe to say that on some level God is inviting us all into creativity, He's inviting us to do something positive. "Waiting on the lord" doesnt have to be simply praying for something and then sitting around until that something happens (if it ever does); it can instead be envisioning what you feel is necessarily, asking for guidance, and then stepping onto the water in faith much like Peter is said to have done in Matthew 14:29. And if you read that whole story, I think it actually reveals one of the most important aspects to living the Christ-life: if you ask God to do something, and you step out in belief, what would normally seem impossible actually begins to happen. It was only when Peter focused on the wind and his scary surroundings that he began to sink. He took his eyes off Jesus and let the negative forces purge the faith from his heart and mind.

This principle is echoed again in Luke 11:9-10,
"And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened"

All this to say, if you feel a desire in your heart that God has placed, yes, the Lord will provide but even before that, you have to step out and walk into what you're envisioning. I'm not sure that it guarantees anything to happen, but Id say its got a much better shot. Not only that, but I think that is the way in which God works through the human soul to manifest the kingdom and its good things all around us.