The Names of God: Jehovah Jire
Meg Chaney
Jehovah Jire: The Lord is our PROVIDER
When you hear the word Provider what comes to mind? Perhaps paying the bills so that your family can have food on the table each night. Perhaps it’s someone who didn’t provide very well for you in your past. For Abraham, there was an intense trust that God would show up and fill in the blanks, give him what was missing.
Consider the following verses:
“Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide ”
Abraham was told to take Isaac, his son of promise, and sacrifice him to the Lord. Can you imagine? This child, that he had waited so very long for. God was asking Him to give this very child TO HIM. My Mama heart hurts just thinking about it. The anguish he must have felt. And yet, I’m amazed by the trust as well. The trust Abraham had that the Lord would ultimately provide the sacrifice. And He did. He provided a ram in the place of Isaac.
And so I ask myself, do I truly trust in the Lord’s provision? In my heart of hearts I know I do. But day to day? Day to day I try to do things on my own. I think I’m convinced that I have to prove my merit. Prove my grit. Prove that I can survive independent of the help of others.
I grew up in a household where I was encouraged to be independent. I life in a world where women can do anything they set their minds to. And I’m incredibly thankful to live in such a time of this.
But thinking of God as my Provider reminds me to stay humbled. It' reminds me to back down and admit just how much I need Him in the day to day. Quite often, I take the very gifts God has given me, and try to do it all on my own. I try to muscle through, strong, independent, without the help of others.
And then, the Lord asks me to give those very things back. He asks me to trust in His provision, in His timing. He asks if I truly believe that HE is the provider of all things. Yes, I’m strong willed. Yes, I’m gloriously strong and independent. And yes, time and again, I remember just how much I need the Lords provision. I really can’t do it alone. I really do need His help in my life.
And so, He hands me hard seasons. He hands me circumstances that cause me to open my hands wide, stop gripping so tightly, and trust that He will ultimately fill in the gaps. When I don’t know how we will ever possibly make it to the end of the this trial. When I can’t see the answer in sight. When honestly feel at my lowest and weakest, I’m reminded that He made me this way so that I would start to trust in His provision a little more. Yes, He made me strong and independent. But yes, He let those hardships come so that I would trust in Him all the more.
What about you? Can you relate? What might you need to give back to the Lord with open hands, trusting in His ultimate ability to provide for you?
Will you pray with me?
Lord God, thank You for the needed reminder that You are our PROVIDER. Open our eyes to the ways, big and small, that You have provided for us. Help us to see how we could share Your love and provision with others.