Jehovah Jireh, God Our Provider

Scripture: Psalms 34:4

“Ready! Aim! Fire!!” 

To demonstrate the effectiveness of the bullet-proof Kevlar vests that police officers are to wear in the field, police departments employ a rather unusual training exercise. 

Trainers dress mannequins in bullet-proof vests, and expert sharpshooters fire rounds into the vests. 

Trainees then inspect the mannequins. The vests invariably pass the test with flying colors, as the dummies are unscathed. 

Then the real test comes. Trainers ask the officers, “Now, who wants to put a vest on and test how well it works on you?” 

Any guesses on the response? NONE of the trainees are particularly enthusiastic about donning a vest and being shot at, even by expert sharpshooters! 

Be honest, how many of us would be willing to be shot at, even if we were wearing bulletproof vests? 

Listen, you can cover my entire body with bullet-proof Kevlar, then wrap me in body armor and chain mail, and lace all of that with bubble wrap and I STILL wouldn’t volunteer for that assignment! 

Why? Because while it is one thing to say I have faith in the vests, it is quite anotherthing to put a vest ON and stand in the line of fire. 

To put this another way; it is one thing to say we believe in God and it is quite another thing to trust Him when the bullets are flying!

I am pointing at a problem I call “Christian atheism.” How can a Christian possibly be an atheist? 

The phenomenon sounds like a paradox because it is. We are Christians, but then at the first hint of trouble, we act like there is no God. WE FREAK OUT! We ROYALLY AND REGULARLY FLIP OUT! We say we believe God is real, but then we live like He isn’t. We trust Him for our eternal salvation, but then we act like He can’t handle our lives here on earth. 

If we are honest, we ALL have moments like that. I’m not talking about the normal jitters or initial shocks we have upon receiving bad news. That’s normal. 

I am talking about the deep despair we can fall into when circumstances threaten our security. 

As we begin this reading plan, I have a question: how real is our faith truly? 

Is what we believe as true in the trenches as it is at our church teas? 

Over the next few days, we will look closely at Jehovah Jireh, God our Provider. 

Jehovah Jireh challenges our Christian atheism. Today’s passage reminds us that we can trust God to provide for our needs and deliver us from our fears.

Scriptures: Genesis 22:1-19, 2 Chronicles 16:9

In today’s reading, we see that God called upon Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, and we learn that God’s name is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider (Genesis 22:14). 

This entire scene presents a crisis of faith for Abraham. Remember, he has waited his ENTIRE LIFE for Isaac, and now God commands Abraham to KILL the very son promised to him! To make matters even worse and more confusing for Abraham, God does not even accept human sacrifices. 

If you are wondering why God does this, remember that Abraham’s faith is undergoing a test. The sacrifice of Isaac also serves as a foreshadow of the future sacrifice of God’s promised beloved Son, Jesus. 

So a critical lesson on provision here: we encounter Jehovah Jireh, our Provider when there is a need to be met or a crisis to overcome. We do not typically fully appreciate the work of the Almighty Jireh when things are cozy and comfortable. 

I genuinely believe this is why God allows us to experience deep distress and even the pinch of financial concerns because we would not look to Jireh without them (just like we wouldn’t see the need for a Savior apart from acknowledging our sin)! 

This was the situation my family faced three years ago. Shortly after securing a new job and moving our family 1300 miles from New Jersey to Louisiana, my husband lost that job through a series of highly unexpected and irregular circumstances. The crisis that followed nearly crushed him. He fell into Christian atheism. But in the middle of all of that, Jehovah Jireh provided miraculously. My husband received a substantial check for unused vacation time from the employer that let him go, and that money was precisely what we needed to get us through until he secured a new position. We saw Jehovah Jireh provide everything our family needed. 

If you struggle with deep anxiety over areas of financial provision, please hear me on this! Begin to train your mind to consider every crisis you face as an opportunity to encounter Jehovah Jireh, your Provider, just as Abraham does in today’s passage when he says to Issac in Genesis 22:8, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” Abraham trusts that Jehovah Jireh will provide for their needs, and we can too! 

2 Chronicles 16:9a says it perfectly, “ For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”

When faced with your impossible situation today – do you trust that God will provide for your needs, and show Himself strong on your behalf?

Scriptures: Genesis 50:19-20, 1 Chronicles 29:14-16, Matthew 6:33

“What does God want from me?” 

Have you ever asked yourself that question? 

If I was Abraham, climbing Mt. Moriah with Isaac that day described in Genesis 22, I might have thought, “Why would God do this to me? Why would He give me a son, only to have me sacrifice him? What does God want from me?” 

As we have seen so far, God’s name is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider. Today, I want to make an important point. God will provide what He requires of us, as long as we obey Him by faith. 

I want to say that again. God will provide what He requires of us, as long as we obey Him by faith. 

In other words, as I have learned in my entire Christian life and from my beloved pastor, “where God guides, God provides.” 

In this case, God demanded that Abraham provide a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. Initially, that sacrifice was Isaac, but when God saw that Abraham was obedient, even to the point of sacrificing his only beloved son, God provided a ram instead for the sacrifice. In other words, God provided what He required of Abraham, having seen that Abraham obeyed God by faith. 

There are countless examples of this phenomenon in scripture. As we see in Genesis 50, when God planned for the children of Israel to go down into Egypt, He sent Joseph ahead of them to provide for His people and protect them during the famine. Despite the evil Joseph endured, Jehovah Jireh was at work, providing protection both for the Egyptians and the Hebrews during the famine. 

Hundreds of years later, Israel was to come out of Egypt, so He sent Moses ahead of His people to provide a way out of Egypt. Moses may not have felt like a capable orator to stand before Pharoah, but Jehovah Jireh provided Moses with Aaron to help. 

In 1 Chronicles 29:14-16, we see that when God required the building of the temple, He also provided the means to build it. 

In every situation, we see that God provided what He required of His people, as they obeyed Him by faith. That is the guiding principle behind the great promise in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” 

What is God calling you to do? How is He leading you? Are you trusting Jehovah Jireh to provide for your every need along the way?

Scriptures: Genesis 22:3-8, Hebrews 11:17-18

“Jesus. Allah. Mohammed. Buddha. What you believe doesn’t matter, so long as you are sincere.” 

I want to strongly and firmly dispel the falsehood of this notion as we continue our exploration of the great name of God, Jehovah Jireh. 

What we believe very much DOES matter. Hitler was sincere in his convictions, as were the murderous despots Stalin, Mussolini, and the terrorists that have murdered tens of thousands throughout history. They were genuine, and the outcome was disastrous. 

In today’s reading in Hebrews, Abraham believed that God could even raise Isaac from the dead if Abraham had been called upon to sacrifice him on Mt. Moriah. And the proof of his faith is found in the passage in Genesis 22:5 when Abraham tells his servants, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go over yonder and worship, and WE will come back to you.” 

In using the term “we,” Abraham believed that Jehovah Jireh could provide a way for Isaac to return with him. 

When Isaac asks where the offering is, Abraham repeats this notion in verse 8, saying, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” Again, Abraham trusts in Jehovah Jireh’s provision of the offering. 

Notice that Abraham does not deny that there is a real need. He is not in denial. Despite the crisis, Abraham has faith in Jehovah Jireh to provide for that need, EVEN IF it means raising Isaac from the dead. 

Believers, we should not be in denial, and yet we should believe Jehovah Jireh can provide for us! When my husband and I had only been married for a few weeks (now nearly 25 years ago), we learned that we had been wrongly named in a frivolous lawsuit. Given that I had been a victim of identity theft only a few months before, I completely crumbled. Was all lost? Were we financially ruined before our lives together had even begun? Why would God allow this? 

We took our burden to the Lord, got legal advice, and God defended us. The lawsuit was dropped. Through this experience and others like it, I am learning something about my relationship with God. When faced with circumstances that cause me to fear in the area of provision, I am learning that what I believe about God matters. He delivered us through that lawsuit, He will deliver us through the next crisis, and He can do the same for you. God IS mighty to save. He IS Jehovah Jireh, my Provider. 

Each new crisis deepens my faith in the one true God of the Bible, in Jehovah’s Jireh’s ability to provide for my every need.

Scriptures: Genesis 2:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Psalms 40:1-3, Psalms 119:50

“Follow your heart.” 

“Trust your gut.” 

“Do what feels right.” 

Movies, music, and even our minds can bombard us with these messages. Yet, after numerous failed relationships or hopping from job to job, we find that following our hearts is rarely emotionally fulfilling. 

Jehovah Jireh offers us a better way. He provides not only for our physical needs like He did for Abraham on Mt. Moriah, but also for our deepest relational and emotional needs. 

In today’s reading of Genesis 2:18, God saw that it was not good for man to be alone. All that God had created was good, except for man being alone. So God made woman, a helper comparable to man. God created us male and female from the beginning; this was His perfect design. 

God created mankind for community, which is why later, in the Gospels, Jesus had His disciples conduct ministry “two-by-two,” and why the church is an irreplaceable component of God’s New Testament plan. In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5:11 reminds believers that we are to comfort and edify each other. The word edify means “to build.” In other words, God’s plan for the emotional well-being of Christians is that we encourage and build one another up. In fact, Jehovah Jireh often provides for believers’ relational and emotional needs by working through His people, the church. 

What’s more, God meets our emotional needs by comforting us in our deepest needs with His very presence. Psalm 40 reminds us that God hears our cries, and we know that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, dwells within us and is our Comforter. 

God also meets our emotional needs through the precepts found in His Word, the truth that helps us navigate through our emotions, our relationships, and our circumstances. The Word of God gives life amidst our deepest needs for comfort (Psalm 119:50). 

As I write this Bible plan, I am walking through one of the most painful relationship losses I have ever endured. Even as I endure it, God sent a friend to pray for me, share Scripture with me, and remind me that I am loved by God and His people. 

Human nature can tend to focus on what we lack, times when our friends hurt us, and moments when we are discouraged and disquieted. But we must never forget that God is Jireh, the provider of all that we DO have – that friend that DOES call and text, that churchgoer that DOES welcome us warmly, and that word of Scripture that comforts us on a dark day. We do not need to follow our hearts for emotional fulfillment but rather obey Jehovah Jireh, the provider for even our emotional needs!

Scriptures: 2 Kings 19:14-19, Psalms 91:14-15, Proverbs 18:10

I am a big-time doer. I confess it. I can come up with 1,436 plans before breakfast. 

The problem with my go-getter nature is that when trouble comes, my initial reaction is to jump to action before I seek the Lord. That’s why today’s passages are particularly instructive for me. For example, Psalm 91:15: 

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

Jehovah Jireh provides a way through trouble, a direction when we need it most. 

As we have already seen throughout this Bible reading plan, Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, provides for our physical needs. He provided Abraham with the ram for the offering. Jehovah Jireh also provides for our emotional needs through His people, the precepts of His Word, and through His presence by the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, Jehovah Jireh provides for all He commands us to do, as He provided Joseph to protect the people through famine, Moses as a deliverer for the Hebrews out of Egypt, and for the building of a temple. 

In addition to all those forms of provision, Jehovah Jireh is faithful to provide us with direction when we see no way before us, as illustrated in the life of King Hezekiah. As 2 Kings 19 explains, King Hezekiah and the people of Judah face the army of Sennacherib, King of Assyria. Sennacherib’s army of 185,000 surrounds Judah, and he sends Hezekiah a threatening letter, essentially saying, “Don’t believe God will protect you! We are coming for you!” 

It is a time of great fear for Judah, and Hezekiah’s response is instructive. Before he jumps to action, Hezekiah lays the Assyrian threat before God. And notice what Hezekiah does NOT do in 2 Kings 19:14-19. He does NOT tell God what to do. He simply puts the letters of the enemy in front of God and essentially asks the Lord to provide a direction. 

And God makes a way! In one night, one angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrians! 

I believe this is a challenge to all of us who deal with anxiety in areas of provision. Jehovah Jireh doesn’t just provide tangible provisions. Jehovah Jireh provides us with direction. Another of God’s names is Jehovah Raah, God our Shepherd, and we know He leads us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake (Psalm 23:3). 

When crisis arises, can we learn to slow down to seek God’s direction? Can we learn from Hezekiah to lay the situation before Jireh, Our Provider, and watch Him make a way, where there is no way?

Scriptures: Genesis 2:2-4, 1 Kings 19:5-8, Mark 6:31, Philippians 4:19

“I was so burnt out after this year, so weary of everything. Had no more capacity and was just completely drained. I am here getting fresh air and doing what I love with no rigid structure, just playing, talking, and being. God is showing me that, where He is present, there is joy and strength and peace and enough for this next day.” 

After an incredibly demanding four years of undergraduate study, my oldest daughter recently graduated with highest honors. After graduation, she had the remarkable opportunity to serve as a music missionary in Austria. 

While there, as she stood on a mountainside, breathing in the air of the Alps, she came to a momentous realization. Jehovah Jireh provides REST for His people. He is the restorer of our souls, and He gives us rest. 

In today’s reading, we see that after a significant victory against the prophets of Baal, Elijah runs from wicked Queen Jezebel and is deeply anguished and weary. During Elijah’s depression, Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, gives the prophet time for rest and refreshment. Elijah has a chance to rest and eat twice before continuing his journey. God affords him rest. 

Jesus did the same for His disciples. In Mark 6:31, He told His disciples to take time with Him alone to rest awhile because they hadn’t even had time to stop and eat with so many demands of ministry. Jesus, Jehovah Jireh in human flesh, provided His disciples with time for rest. 

That’s why I am devoting the seventh day of this reading plan to the subject of rest. The Lord rested on the seventh day of creation, not because He was tired, but because He modeled the setting aside of a Sabbath day for worship and rejuvenating rest. It’s a lesson I wish I had learned earlier in my Christian life. Rest is biblical. Jehovah Jireh provides it for our well-being. 

As one who suffers from lupus (in an albeit mild form), I know how critical it is that I rest. In fact, sleep can often prevent me from experiencing the worst or worsening of my lupus symptoms. 

Rather than resenting the weakness that requires me to rest, I am learning to take those moments of sleep as a way God reveals Himself as Jehovah Rapha, my healer (the subject of a future Bible reading plan). 

In every case, whether it is in providing for our physical, emotional, relational, spiritual, or other needs, our God is Jehovah Jireh, our ultimate provider. We can seek Him daily, as the Apostle Paul did, to supply all of our needs “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).