GOD, OUR PROVIDER

Your heavenly Father is the Great Provider for all the earth. He gives rain when the earth needs refreshment. He calls the sun from its hiding when the earth needs warmth. He gives to the animals their food, the flowers their beauty, the birds their shelter, and you and me everything we need.

We worship a God who is both loving and powerful. He is both omnipotent and omnipresent. He is both good and able. If he were not, we would be forced to fend for ourselves, striving for that which he has promised to provide. If he were only good, we would not be assured of the provision his power provides. And if he were only able, we would fear for a lack of his desire to provide. But God is our heavenly Father who both knows what we need and longs to provide for us in exceeding measures. He is our Creator and Sustainer, Lord of all and Lord in all.

So why do you fear for your needs? Why do you stress over the foundational cares of this life while your heavenly Father is seated on his throne? The truth is that until we experience for ourselves both the goodness and power of our heavenly Father, the truth of his provision will only ever feel like a heady, theological principle. Until we experience firsthand the character and provision of our God, fear will remain.

1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” God longs to perfect you in his love today. He longs to guide you into an encounter with his goodness and power. He longs to establish a foundation of his faithfulness by which you can live in faith. May you have a transformative encounter with the Holy Spirit today that frees you from fear and striving as you enter into guided prayer.

Now let's look at the key text that relates to God's provision:

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide (Yahweh-yir´eh). And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." (Genesis 22:13-14)

In this case Abraham doesn't call God a different name, but he names the place with a compound, "Yahweh Provides" (New Jerusalem Bible). The King James Version transliterates the Hebrew words as "Jehovah-jireh." A better pronunciation here is Yahweh-yir´eh.

This was the first time we know of that Abraham had to trust God to provide. Later, as God reveals himself to Moses and the people of Israel, they begin to understand that this is part of God's responsibility as King and part of his role as Father and part of his character as the Loving God. In the New Testament we see two clear statements:

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33, KJV)

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

From that day forward, Abraham remembered the name he had given that mountain top “Jehovah Jireh, Yahweh-yir´eh, "The LORD Will Provide."