Have you received your Daily Bread for today? What do you think your “Daily Bread” is exactly? Is it literally bread/food on your table? Is it your rent/mortgage? Or is it the job you have or the loved ones in your life? Journey with me today into our Getting to Know God series of blogs with a focus on God as Jehovah-jireh, the God Who Provides.

My chosen guide for this series of blogs is 30 Days of Praying the Names and Attributes of God from the Navigators which says this on Day 7:

“God is Jehovah-jireh. “The God who provides.” Just as He provided yesterday, He will also provide today and tomorrow. He grants deliverance from sin, the oil of joy for the ashes of sorrow, and eternal citizenship in His Kingdom for all those adopted into His household.”

The verses cited today are:
Genesis 22:9-14(NIV)

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.  “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”  Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] 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. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

The Bible verses cited above are, in my humble opinion, one of THE most telling stories of God’s provision in the entirety of the Bible. It is a wonderful example of God’s provision but, to me, it is more about Abraham’s obedience. Can you imagine being Abraham and living this story in REAL life? Let’s walk through that story together…

Imagine, if you will, that God has promised that a nation will rise up from your descendants and that they shall be more numerous than the grains of sand on the seashores. Then, imagine WAITING almost 100 years for the arrival of your first descendant, a son named Isaac. Then, after waiting all those years for that first son, God asks you to sacrifice that long awaited son to Him. Would you do it? Would you do immediately when asked?

I honestly can’t say that I would be so obedient and especially so immediately obedient with such a request from God. A request like that from God would stretch my understanding to the breaking point. It might honestly make me turn away and hide. It is good for us to remember this story of Abraham’s immediate obedience and the following provision from God. God desires relationship with us. He desires this type of DEEP trusting relationship with us. He wants us to obey His commands to us so he can lavish blessings upon us.

But remember, this is not an if/then equation, i.e. if we obey – then God will bless us. God continually blesses us and provides for as out of His immeasurable love for us, period. Although He desires to bless us MORE than we could ever imagine and those outrageous blessings are the ones that often follow our obedience of Him. The only person missing out if we do not obey His will is us.

Let’s go back to our focus on God being our Provider. Providing for us goes well beyond our physical needs of food and shelter, yet that is often where we stop when we think of how God provides for us. Or, worse yet, we use our seeming lack of what we would like those provisions to be as a sign that God has turned His back on us. Both scenarios are incorrect and can separate us from a deep and meaningful relationship with God.

God provides for our spirits by allowing His spirit to dwell within us which allows us to connect to Him. He also provides routes of connection to Him through direct conversation (prayer), worship, reading His Word and fellowship with other believers. God provides comfort for us when we are in need of it and provides endless joy to us if we choose to focus on His truth and His love. Yes, God is our provider in so many ways and He can provide for all of our needs.

It is my prayer that I grow to be able to trust God (like Abraham did) so I can immediately follow His voice when He calls and experience the ABUNDANCE of His provision for me.

In the meantime, I will give thanks for my “daily bread” as my great God, Jehovah-jireh, provides for my every need. How about you?