Yahweh Yireh (The Lord will provide)

Provision is a pretty hot topic right now for obvious reasons. Currently, our state is in a mandated lock down. Only essential industries are allowed to continue functioning. That leaves a whole lot of the rest of us hanging out in the breeze. A time of testing for sure. But with that being said, this is also an excellent time to be a child of God. Well, all times are excellent, but now especially!

Yahweh Yireh (Jehovah Jireh) means: The Lord sees what we need even before we know we have a need.

In Genesis 22 we see Abraham entering another test. By God's instruction, He takes his promised and long-awaited son, Isaac, up to Mt. Moriah in order to offer him as a sacrifice unto the Lord. This encounter not only foreshadows the coming Messiah, but also introduces us to God the Provider-Yahweh Yireh

Often Biblical accounts come in bullet point formats, and as the reader sometimes I like to fill between the dots.

• ABRAHAM- go to the mountain and offer your beloved son as a sacrifice. (me- well, this is a game changer)

• "Will do, God." Abe straps a pile of firewood onto Isaac's back. (Abe is acting pretty darn casual about this.)

• Abe leaves early morning with two servants, his son, fire, and a knife for a 3 day journey. (Old Abe must have been a pretty spry 100-something-year-old to make this 50 mile trek.)

• At the base of the mountain he leaves his servants behind and climbs up with Isaac alone. (Why? Doesn't he want any witnesses? Or perhaps he is worried someone will interfere with the plan.)

• Isaac starts to connect his own dots. "Um, where is the lamb for the sacrifice, dad?" (Kid is smart. 'Dad is old, maybe he isn't thinking clearly.')

• "No worries, buddy boy, God will provide." (Abraham prophesied the outcome!)

• When they get to the top, Abraham binds his beloved son with rope, places him on a pile of wood, and raises his knife to kill him. ( OMG!)

• An angel shouts from Heaven, "DON'T LAY A HAND ON HIM! " (Shew!)

• Just in the nick of time, Abraham's eyes are opened to the provision that had been waiting for him; a ram caught in a thicket makes a provisional entrance into Abraham and Yahweh Yireh story. The provision had been waiting on the other side of the test. The test was an invitation to meet God in a whole new way. (God has a plan. We just don't always see it right away.)

Trusting in the outcome, also means we need to trust in the process of the provision. God's point of view on what we need may be hard to swallow sometimes, especially since our emotions, finances, health, dreams and desires are involved.

God sees what we need even before we know we have a need. His perspective is eternal and encompasses His plan for our whole life. It takes into account our prayers, our loved ones, our gifts and talents, our calls, and our physical and spiritual needs.

Each name of God is an expression of His love and is an invitation for us to grow and partner in that expression. Meaning, If we believe God is who He says He is, then we also have to believe He saw this world-wide meltdown coming. He also has equipped us to draw on Him in this hour. To faithfully speak out as Abraham did in calling forth the resources. He has already stocked the storehouses of our Souls and Spirits with everything we are going to need; Peace, Hope, Love, Faith, Wisdom, Strength, Grace, Ingenuity, Creativity and Resolve.

In Just Let Them Love You Professor Saige asks the Lord to bring her to someone who had a need. He answered her prayer by sending her to a Kibbutz on the outskirts of Jerusalem. There, she was honored to provide the answer to a dying woman's prayer.

To have a God that sees what we need even before we know we have a need is pretty remarkable. It's prophetic and Long-sited. It's an attention to detail and a working of all things together. It's the period on the end of a long story, the capital letter on the first word, and it's all the letters in between.