"So Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide. And it is said to this day, On the mount of the Lord it will be provided." Genesis 22:14
The first time God is referred to as Jehovah-jireh (The LORD will provide) is at the end of the story when God asks Abraham to sacrifice His only son, Isaac. If you don't know the story read Genesis 22. In the end, God stops Abraham from killing Isaac in a sacrifice and provides a ram for him to sacrifice instead. Abraham's faith went above and beyond his circumstances. He trusted God even when it didn't make sense. He trusted God's word. He trusted God's faithfulness. And because Abraham had faith he saw God provide.
The past several months, God has been showing me how to relate to Him as his child and to see Him as my Father, my Abba. Through that, part of what He has shown me is how He is my provider, my Jehovah-jireh. Right after I had decided that He was leading me to spend more extended time in Uganda, I assumed I would be raising monthly support. Because of what God had taught be previously, I knew He would provide the supporters I needed. However, in my mind it was still going to be my effort that was ultimately going to bring in the money I needed. Oh how wrong I was!
In October, God put a stop to my plans. He was still calling me to Uganda, but told me not to raise any financial support, but rather to simple trust Him. I'll be honest, I'm a slow learner. I was fine waiting until He would tell me to start raising support... Well, that never happened. I have doubted several times if I was doing the right thing. One time about a month or two ago God didn't even tell me what to do again when I started to doubt. He simply said, "You know. You heard me the first time." Then I asked a friend to pray for wisdom for me and she said, "You know what to do. You know God's voice." Confirmation. So I waited.
Well, a few weeks ago, I was looking at my situation again and figured out how much more I needed. Knowing my salary, it wasn't going to be possible to save even close to that amount. I prayed and told God, "I can't do this, but I'm excited to see how You will." I forgot about it. I didn't mention it to anyone. I assumed God would wait until the last minute to provide (much like he did with Abraham). Well He didn't... 5 days later, give or take, my pastor came up to me and told me there was an anonymous donation for my year in Uganda. I was so blessed. Seriously, only through God's love can people be this generous! Anyway, my pastor then told me the amount that was given and it was the exact amount I needed!!! No one knew but me and God and He provided!
All I can say is God is so good to His children!
God has really revealed to me how He can do infinitely more with my simple obedience, than I can do with 100% of my best effort. I am beyond thankful that Jesus would teach me this lesson, because it applies to every person and every situation. God can do more with our obedience than we can do with our most strategic plan and best effort. We don't have to figure out life. We simply need to obey. Obey God and you will see Him move in miraculous ways, not just in your life, but in the lives of those around you!
