Jehovah Jireh and the Daily Bread
Recently during a sermon, our pulpit minister asked a question whether any of us had ever depended on God literally for our daily bread. My wife and I exchanged a knowing glance because we both remembered a time in our early marriage and parenthood when we learned the valuable lesson that we served a God whom Abraham called Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide.
Just a few weeks before our experience, we made a move into an unknown part of our lives. We left family and friends and moved to the South so I could attend and work at a small Christian College. As a couple, we served as the boy’s dorm parents, which provided us with housing and utilities. In addition, I served part time as the assistant business office manager, for which I was paid what was truly little more than a stipend to help us keep food on the table and handle insurance and other such needs. But before I received my first paycheck, we found ourselves on a Tuesday with nearly a zero balance in the checking account and literally nothing that we could feed our two young children. And payday was Friday! That’s when Jehovah Jireh stepped in.
You probably remember him as the God of Abraham. When he asked Abraham to take his long promised, anticipated and only son up on a mountain and offer him as a sacrifice, he rewarded Abraham’s faith and faithfulness by substituting a ram so Isaac was not sacrificed that day. And that’s when Abraham called him Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide.
Fast forward a few hundred years. Another of God’s chosen leaders, Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the wilderness. Because of their lack of trust in God they ended up spending forty years wondering around, waiting for the old generation to die out so they could finally enter the promised land. But since they were wandering around, they wouldn’t be able to plant and harvest crops in order to feed themselves. But Jehovah Jireh could. He sent them manna every day and literally provided their daily bread. And when they complained about it, he also sent quail so they could enjoy meat as well. Not to mention the way he provided water as well.
Now fast forward another 3000 plus years to find a young family of four looking at three days when they literally didn’t know where the food was going to come from. It was definitely a time of prayer in our house as we knew we had to depend on him in a way we had not experienced before. But Jehovah Jireh was still able to provide, in some very interesting ways. First, the librarian of the school, whose husband was the OT professor, gave us a shout and said “hey, we’re doing pizza tonight and going to watch a movie. Do you guys want to join us?” What? You mean come over for pizza and a movie? Nah, we’re waiting for God to send us some manna. Wait a minute! Yes, we’d love to eat pizza and watch a movie with you guys (I called people you guys since I was still new to the South and y’all wasn’t an integral part of my vocabulary). Day one need met.
The same day the wife of a fellow student came by and asked if we could help them with something. They had agreed to feed the new NT professor, his wife and two boys lunch the next day, Wednesday. But they had a family thing come up and they needed someone to take their place. And oh, by the way, here’s all the fixings for the lunch. What? You mean you need us to take the food you were going to prepare for the new professor and his family and host them at our place instead? Let us think it over first. Wait a minute! Yes, we’d love to meet them, host them for dinner, and thanks for providing the food for the event! And it looks better than manna! Day two need met.
Do you remember those accounts in the gospels where Jesus fed the multitudes with just some loaves and fish and then the disciples gathered up the leftovers and it filled baskets? Well lunch on Wednesday was enough to feed two families of four and there was plenty left over for the four of us to enjoy on Thursday as well. Day three need met.
And then it was Friday. Payday. And a much-anticipated grocery shopping trip that did not disappoint. Since then, there have been many other times in our lives that God has made sure that our needs were met. Maybe not all of our wants, but he has never left us in need. And maybe not literally our daily bread, but the time that he did has left an indelible imprint on our lives and faith. Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide. And he still does today.
-Phil Miller