What About Me?

My friends have a prodigal son; it’s been more than two years since they last connected. My heart breaks for them. We don’t often talk of him; there isn’t much to say.

I do pray. I implore God to bring him home; I beg God to provide his physical, spiritual, and emotional needs.

Then it dawned on me.

God is provider; He is Jehovah Jireh. Providing is his character. 

But is there an automatic link between his character and receiving the benefit of it?

Perhaps my prayer should be one of thanking God that he is Jehovah Jireh, and asking him to help my friend’s son experience his providing character.

What about me?

Am I aware of how graciously and generously God provides for me? Do I thank him for his generosity and live like it is true? Is Jehovah Jireh a reality for me?

I’m reading Matthew 6:25-34 with new eyes. In those ten short easy-to-understand verses, God feeds (verse 26), and God clothes (verse 30); God knows our needs (verse 32). 

The lynch pin is verse 33. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Perhaps, like me, you memorized these familiar words long ago. They tell me that God is my Jehovah Jireh, my provider.

But do I believe them?

Now is the time to live like I do believe them. 

Now is the time to let this truth inform my prayers. 

Now is the time to experience God as my Jehovah Jireh. 

I’m learning to believe.

“Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad; you restored your inheritance as it languished; your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy."

    Psalm 68:9, 10