JIRAH, THE PROVIDER

So who is Jirah? If you’ve never heard of Him, He’s more commonly called Jehovah Jirah, meaning God, the Provider. That is the first way God revealed Himself to people, actually first to Abraham who was the father of many nations. If you were Abraham who was 99 years old and God had told you that your 100 year old wife was going to have a son, you would certainly need to know God as the Provider or you would never have believed Him, even though He’s God. I learned years ago that God will always provide what a person needs. Experience is the best teacher, for sure, and there are many, many notches on my experience belt to remind me that He always provides. Now, the provision might not come in the wrapping that a person expects, but it is always perfect for the occasion. One meaningful experience comes to mind where God provided for a family need in a dramatic way. It happened after my husband of 55 years died. My loving and attentive three adult children were efficient in helping with all of the funeral plans in addition to helping with insurance calls, banking calls, business calls, retirement arrangement calls and all the other calls that occur after the death of a loved one. Everything was falling into place, thanks to each individual’s expertise in whichever areas they were experienced. Relating to the funeral arrangements, the one thing that had not been arranged was my asking someone to stay at the house during the funeral, which is a wise thing to do in order to answer calls, receive food and provide the human equivalent to a burglar alarm since there are times when vacant homes are robbed when the family is attending the funeral of a loved one. As it got closer to the day of the funeral, all three adult children and other relatives became concerned about not having someone to “sit” with the house. I kept telling them that God would send the right one, that we did not need to be concerned. That was hard to do for all of my efficient children. Occasionally one of them would inquire about who I was going to ask to sit with the house. Bless their hearts, they were really concerned. Rightfully so. They probably thought I was foolish to trust God with that task when it could so easily be handled by me. I had that knowing deep in my spirit that God was going to send someone. Didn’t know who and didn’t know when, but I just had that gift of faith that He would send the person, that I didn’t need to be concerned about that task. The day before the funeral I decided I needed to get out of the house. The house was full of relatives who were busying themselves doing household chores and other duties in preparation for the funeral and the pizza wake which we had decided to have at our home after the funeral. Pizza was my husband’s favorite food so it was appropriate to have a pizza wake for incoming relatives and friends. Suddenly I had an intense desire to go into the front yard and water some plants, which seemed a weird desire since it was still cold in the early spring and there was no need to water the plants. It was good to get away from the busyness in the house where loving chatter was forever present. As I was holding the water hose on one of the azalea plants, a car pulled into the driveway. It was Melody, a friend who lives in the next block. Melody and I have had a friendship which did not involve regular visits. In fact, we had infrequent conversations but each rare one resulted in loving communication. Melody gave me a big hug and inquired how I was doing, to which I answered that I was doing fine, just needed to get out of the house a minute. We stood and chatted for just a very few minutes when Melody said, “I would like to stay at your house during Steve’s funeral. Do you have anyone appointed to that task?” Well, glory be, there was the provision of My Heavenly Father. He certainly is Jehovah Jirah, as Abraham knew him. Melody also told me that she considered it as a ministry for herself to provide that duty for a grieving family. Immediately I told Melody that I had been waiting for her. I told her about the concerns of my adult children and that I had assured them over and over again that God would provide the house sitter. She was pleased to be the answer to our prayers. I grabbed her hand and led her into the house, eager to physically show the “doubting Thomases” in the house that God had so expertly provided the person we needed. Feeling like I was dragging Melody behind me, we entered the front door and I called to everyone in the house to come immediately because I had something to show them. The room became filled with my children, a few of my grown grandchildren, sisters, brothers and other relatives. It was a delight to introduce Melody as the one God provided for the task. I reminded everyone who was listening that we didn’t have to ask anyone, that God had supernaturally appointed the proper one, Melody, who considered it a gift to the family. If there was anyone in my house that day who doubted that God will provide what a person needs, he or she was convinced on that occasion that Our Heavenly Father is truly God, the Provider. Our provision had walked right up to our door and volunteered, as directed by Him. Thank you, God, for proving that you provide; and thank you, Melody, that you were obedient to the calling of God. Melody’s gift to us that day was a living example of a Loving Father being whom He says He is, God the Provider. It was a dramatic representation to the entire family that, in that occasion, asking God to provide was more sure than asking a person to provide. We all learned a valuable and faith building lesson.