Jehovah Jireh, God Our ProviderPrøve

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?