The Lord will Provide

When my parents divorced, it was a very difficult time.  My mom shared with me that there was one day in particular where she was at her end, nothing was going right, and it hit her all of a sudden—all of the pain, the frustration...  And in the midst of this moment, falling apart, she cried out to God, “Don’t you ever need a hug?”  She said she had no idea why those particular words came out of her mouth, but a little while later, the phone rang.    

It was a friend.  Her friend said she had been taking a nap when she felt a tap on her shoulder.  She thought it was her husband but when she looked, he was not there.  She tried to go back to sleep but…she felt it again.  This time she heard a voice say, “Call Barbara.”  So, in obedience, she called my mom and told her she had no idea why she was calling except… (a long pause as the Lord gently dropped these words into her heart), “Do you need a hug?”  This Godly woman, sensitive to the Holy Spirit, came over to the house and, like a loving momma, held my mom as she wept.  The Lord heard and He provided. 

In Genesis 22, there is another story of the Lord’s provision.  God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, an unimaginable sacrifice, but Abraham took his son to Mount Moriah ready to obey.  As they ascended the mountain, Isaac asked his father about the lack of a lamb for the sacrifice.  “Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’” (vs 8a) 

The Lord stopped Abraham right before the sacrifice of his only son and instead provided a ram.  It was there Abraham revealed one of the names of God—Jehovah Jireh—The Lord Will Provide.  “So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’” (vs 14)  And it was provided, not just for Abraham that day, but ultimately for the whole world.  For you see, many years later, Mount Moriah also became the place the Lamb of God, God’s only Son, was sacrificed. 

Today, remember…the Lord—your Jehovah Jireh—will provide.  As He has done before, He will do again. 

–Katie Botello