Jehovah Jireh

Is it wrong to boast of the LORD? Perhaps not, though I do feel the need to justify my ability to interpret recent events in my life from a theological and spiritual perspective. Maybe I only feel that way because I don’t often hear people in my life taking Scriptural promises and testifying of how they’ve experienced the reality of those promises. Or possibly my pride is simply at stake and I want to ensure myself of your attentive ear.

Regardless of the reason, I do intend to boast to you of how I’ve recently experienced God’s faithfulness to His word. And boast is the key word – I take pride in the fact that I am experiencing the truth of God’s promises, to such an extent that I want you to take pride – and hopefully be encouraged in it too.

The age old promise sung from kindergarten Sunday school classes onward goes like this: “Seek first His kingdom and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33). It is a promise nestled in to one small paragraph of the Sermon of the Mount, under the umbrella of Jesus’ teachings about money and possessions. Jesus’ point in this section is that our lives should not be prioritized by trying to provide for ourselves earthly security, in whatever form that might present itself: clothes, food, money, possessions.

My life since I moved away from home has in many ways been characterized by my trust in this promise. When I originally decided to attend Biola University, it was a bold step of faith for me. Biola was expensive, it was far from family, and I’d never even seen the campus. And once I finally chose a major, I thought that paying $26,000 a year for a degree I could get for free at Moody Bible Institute was bad stewardship of my money. But my rejection from Moody indicated that in this case, God did not.

In many ways, I think I have my parents to thank for their example of living this promise out as missionaries. Who would have known that their moving to the Philippines would put me in a situation where I’d have no other choice than to trust God to provide for me in practical and financial ways? When I left home, it was with $2,000 in my pocket, no car, no job, and heaps of student loans to cover my education. I knew no one in California, had never had to “find a church” before, and my parents weren’t even available to drop me off at Biola on my first day! In many ways, it could have been said that I was stepping out alone. But, whether they intended it or not, my parent’s trust of God in allowing me to leave in this fashion helped me to be confident in His provision and care as well. My dad’s last words of advice will stay with me always: “Remember that Jesus is your good Shepherd. And a good Shepherd always cares for His sheep.”

Since that first day on campus, God has continued to provide for my practical needs, in small ways – such as a winter coat in my first experience of 50 degree CA weather – to immense ways, such as free cars. I’ve never been the sort of person who’s been very good at making plans for my future. And I don’t discount the value of stewardship – in fact, I often see my lack of planning as a weakness. But in the times that I’ve sought out to account for my future security, things just don’t seem to pan out. Its only when I let go of seeing that I am ultimately responsible for providing for myself, that God richly blesses me with something so much greater than I could imagine. Recount with me for a moment: not one, but two free cars. Accommodations within a month’s notice. Anonymous cash in my college mail box that covered unexpected expenses. Countless job provisions, oftentimes last-minute, in positions in which I never expected to see myself.

And so today, I want to boast of the most recent addition to this list: Yet another accommodation for the latter half of 2008 - one in which I hadn't even started a search process for. I simply started to pray, but didn't have time or energy to invest in concerning myself with the details. And God has blessed me with a provision I never could have orchestrated for myself. I would have been content with another roommate in my current apartment. But instead, God chose to move one of my closest friends back in the area to live with me and two other incredibly Godly-women in a house. Note: this is a house where I will get my own room, without an increase in rent. For those of you who live in a house now, try to recall the days of apartment living, where there’s never enough space to call your own, even with only one other roommate, and you’ll understand just how excited I am to be living in a house again. Here no complaint about my current situation - only understand living in a house is an improvement. =)

Not only has God been faithful to provide for me as I continue to serve Him here in CA with a completely unmarketable college degree and no clear career path in mind for the future, but He consistently chooses to bless me in His provisions. How can one not believe that He is a good God in light of such blessings?

May your hearts be uplifted as you rejoice with me in His gracious goodness in my life. And may you be encouraged to continue to seek first His kingdom – in whatever ways He has called you to do that – knowing that He truly does care and provide for all of His children’s needs, and most often enough, blesses us in what He gives. As a contemporary praise song well states, “He gives us what we need – and then He gives us more.” Glory to His name!