JEHOVAH-JIREH: God will provide! Praise His Name!

Originally posted April 2008

Matthew 6:33-34 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.”

Chronic illnesses sometimes put us in the position of depending on others for our food, raiment, etc. There are many things changing in my life right now. I find it easy to worry about daily living needs especially when the one I have depended on for help is moving. How will I make it? What is going to happen? Will I be okay? Who will help me when I fall? What will I do? You get the idea…

Right now, I have just started over in Genesis and Matthew in my daily time with God. God is showing me things that I have never seen before.

First, I read Matthew 6 - the verses above really stood out. You really need read verses 24-34. God is telling us that He will provide. God provides for the birds and the lilies. God will provide for us. We don’t even have to worry about any of those things. My job is to just seek Him. What a job! What a privilege!

I’ve also been reading about Noah in Genesis chapters 6-8. (That is as far as I’ve gotten right now.) God started to show me things that I had not seen before.

• Noah obeyed God amidst amazing difficulty. The rest of the people on earth were wicked - unlike when Elijah thought that he was the only righteous one, but God said there were seven thousand in Israel who had not bowed to Baal. Yet, Noah walked with God. Wow! What a stand! But wait, it gets better.
• Noah and his family were alone in their beliefs. (With my chronic illnesses, I often feel isolated and alone as I’m sure others chronic warriors do.) But, what did they do? They obeyed. Noah kept walking with God. So, how did God reward their faith? He took them out of the situation and gave them all they asked for and all the friends they wanted and a life of luxury, right?
• Not quite. God took Noah into his confidence and told him something that was going to be difficult to understand, that would make his life more difficult, and that would change his life forever. God gave Noah a job - a difficult task. (vv. 13-21) Remember, Noah would not have seen rain before. Noah would be finding out that friends and relatives would be killed. Noah would now be more isolated and resented than ever.
• And, what did Noah do? He obeyed. (v. 22)I don’t know about you, but when I have finally trusted God through a situation and obeyed, then, I expect everything to become easy. God does not see things our way, though (Isaiah 55:9-13). God had a bigger plan in mind. Instead of making life easy after Noah had obeyed all that God commanded him, God “locked” him in the ark for over a year (chapters 7-8). As I thought about this, I realized that they probably heard the screams of friends, loved ones, and neighbors, but were helpless to do anything. Then, would it have been worse when the screams stopped, knowing what that meant?
• After that, the hard part - well, it would have been hard for me. They had to wait where they were for weeks, months. They were dependent upon God for EVERYTHING during this time. All they could do was serve the animals and each other day in and day out. That is where God put them. They had no place else to go. That really made me think. It is so easy for me to get discontent with the waiting, the resting and resting, and did I mention resting, only able to do a little bit for God? But, I need to see it as where God has me right now.
• During this time, they didn’t know what they would find when they got out of the ark. What would their new lives be like? Everything would be different. What was God doing? How often have I been in that place where it seems as if God is changing everything in my life. Psalm 55:19, God is bringing me closer to Him through the changes. Also, Jeremiah 29:11, I must trust that God has my future in His hand and that everything He brings is good.
• So, how did they come out of all these trials in the ark? How did they respond after over a year in the ark? What did they say when the finally saw the destruction? Did they question God, rail against Him? No. They worshiped Him and sacrificed to Him. Genesis 8:20 They still trusted Him. What about me?

What a lot of lessons from this story! Jesus tells me that my job is to seek Him and He will take care of the rest. I must trust Him even when things are hard or aren’t going as I want. Noah exemplifies this concept. God took care of Him through it all - even through the difficult times. Chronic illnesses may bring hard times, but are part of God’s plan for me. He will take care of me through it all and do what I need in the midst of it! Amen!