Healthy Faith Trusts The God Who Provides

Jehovah Jireh - God Provides

Forty-four years ago my husband, Vic, and I got married and moved into our very first apartment. It was tiny, located in an area headed toward urban decay, had a leaking gas hot water heater, and was furnished in an eclectic mix of cast offs from relatives and things we made ourselves. Burglars broke into it three different times but never took anything because we didn't own a single thing valuable enough to steal. We were young, madly in love, and finally on our own;so naturally we thought it was the most awesome apartment in the world. 

Vic was in medical school and I taught first grade at a small Christian school.We had a very limited income that called for a strict budget that included only $10 per week for groceries.I made a lot of "rice and" dishes:rice and a smidgen of meat, rice and beans, rice and a can of soup.One drawer of our desk was reserved for incoming bills which I kept carefully stacked with the ones due the soonest on the top.We payed the bills until the money ran out each month.There were always a few bills at the bottom of the pile that had to wait until the next month to rotate to the top.The system worked.Our utilities were never turned off and no angry bill collectors came banging on our door.  

The first year we were married, we heard a sermon at our church one Sunday on the different names for God.Our favorite was Jehovah Jireh - The God Who Provides.It was the name Abraham gave to the place by the altar when God provided a ram caught in a thicket so that he did not have to offer his son Isaac up as a sacrifice.(Genesis 22:14) I've always thought that's a strange story but it has a happy ending and is a wonderful reminder that God always provides everything we need.

Those two words became our secret faith code to each other. Every time we got backed into a financial corner (which was a frequent occurrence in those early years) we would smile and say:Jehovah Jireh. Vic made a plaque to hang on our apartment wall inscribed with that precious name for God.We learned daily to entrust our lives together to The God Who Provides.

That little hand carved plaque has traveled with us everywhere we have lived.Since we moved 16 times in the first 14 years of our marriage, it has been with us on quite a few adventures.It hung on walls in the homes we lived in during medical school and residency and a stint at seminary. It traveled with us to Bogota and Barranquilla, Colombia where we served as missionaries.Today it hangs on a wall by the back entryway of our home so we see it every day as we go in and out of the house .

Forty-four years ago we thought of the Lord's provision only in the limited terms of our financial needs.Over the course of four decades God has taught us that his provision goes far beyond simply meeting our financial needs.When we felt called to be missionaries, God gave us direction. When my Daddy died at age fifty in a terrible work related accident, God provided comfort. When our car was stolen at gunpoint in Colombia with my children in the backseat,God protected them and provided a way to get them safely out of the car.When I developed chronic health issues,God helped me discover healthy living strategies that led to my recovery.When fellow Christians were unkind God helped me move beyond personal hurt toward forgiveness.In times of great darkness he always gives me his great light to find my way. 

But above all, God provides me with his own presence.He fills my life with his grace,mercy, peace,and love.He opens my eyes to see that adventure, joy, and possibilities are everywhere.He cultivates in me a sense of gratitude and thanksgiving that come from him alone.

Jehovah Jireh. Yes indeed. 



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