Jehovah Jireh: God is my Provider

A few years ago I took a 4 month trip to Asia, with my boyfriend (now husband) Andrew. It was during this time that I began my journey towards seeking God with all of my heart. Although I had spent three months devouring the Bible, talking with God and listening to sermons on my Ipod during the long bus rides, the last month I sensed my heart communicating to me that something was missing. Although Andrew was a good listener, I had this unquenchable thirst for fellowship with other believers, who were as excited about God as I was. I wanted to be encouraged, mentored and inspired face to face with someone who was also unashamed of their faith in Christ. I wanted to be friends with someone who had zeal for God, a sister in Christ, who I could relate to, look up to, and to encourage me. However, given my circumstances, finding a English speaking friend in the non- touristy city of Cebu (Philippines) seemed impossible. After a few days of searching for this mystery friend on my own, I made my request known to God and trusted that if it was meant to be, then he would make it happen.

 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”- Philippians 4:6

 A few days later, an unexpected, yet divine intervention took place outside of the mall in downtown Cebu. Andrew literally bumped into the lady whom the Lord intended for us to meet. We shook hands with her and her son and couldn’t help but to be drawn to her charismatic friendly personality. She was one of those people who seem to be glowing with warmth, who you immediately feel drawn towards because you sense that they genuinely care about what you have to say. Her name was Ivy, and it didn’t take more than a few minutes for me to recognize that she was a woman of great faith in Christ. If anyone obeyed the command of Jesus, to ‘be the light’ in this world, she wore it best. A few times she said to us ‘Oh that is such a blessing of the Lord’ and ‘God Bless you two’. I felt the Holy Spirit urging me to ask her if she could show me where a good English speaking church is. I am so happy that I did because one thing led to another and before our conversation was over, we exchanged email’s and planned on meeting up the following week. As we walked away from one another, I knew that this woman was the answer to my prayers. A week later she invited me to her place to have dinner with her friend Sara and their pastor. The evening was filled with thanksgiving, praise, laughter and prayer. As I was getting ready to leave they encouraged me on my journey of faith, and prayed over me. A few days later her friend Sara took Andrew and I to her church and then later on we met up with Ivy for lunch and coffee. Before we parted ways, they prayed over us, and gave me a set of earrings and a bracelet to remember them by.

 I was so humbled, not because of the gifts they gave me, but because of the love that they showed to a perfect stranger in a foreign land. These women were truly a gift from God and they will forever be spiritual mentors in my life. I knew in my heart that the author of the universe had planned this meeting all along, to give me the desires of my heart, to be encouraged by other believers and ultimately to build my faith in Him. Praise God!

“Trust the Lord with all of your heart….” Proverbs (3:5)

Trusting God with even the littlest of things, like paying off debts, finding the right job, or meeting the right man in your life, can sometimes be difficult for us. I believe this is because, in today’s society we are trained to trust only in ourselves to obtain our wants and needs. However, this concept is contrary to the word of God. We are told not to trust in our self, but in everything we do, to put God first (Prov 3:6). Putting God first means that as soon as you come across temptation, trials, testing’s, or if you have a need or a deep desire, you will turn to God and ask for his help and rely on his divine council to break the barriers and receive his blessing. I can’t help but to wonder if I would have ever met Ivy if I didn’t first turn to God, make my request known to him, and trust that God would make it happen.

“…And lean not on your own understanding” – Proverbs (3:6 NIV)

 I love how God cautions us from ‘trying to figure it all out’ on our own. When our earthly minds try to come up with our own solutions, we limit the amount of faith in what we believe God can do in our situation. We tell our friends and family “I am just trusting God with so and so” yet we still continue to verbally map out our directions for Him, just in case the Creator doesn’t know how to meet our needs or solve our problems the way we would like. Hello!! This is not trusting God with all of our heart. In order to fully trust that God will provide, we need to humble ourselves, and admit that God’s plan for our life, is better than any plan we could ever think-up on our own. So even though God says ‘make your requests known Him”, we are commanded to immediately surrender our earthly ‘solutions’ of deliverance, and have faith that the all knowing God will take care of your every need according to His riches and glory (Phill 4:19). When I was in the non touristy part of the Philippines, I couldn’t  imagine how the desire of mine, to meet another female Christian believer, would ever be met. However, I knew that God keeps tabs on every one of his Children, and as soon as I rejected my ‘own understanding’ of how this request would be granted, God put this specific person smack dab in the middle of my path so that I couldn’t miss her, even if I was blind. Isn’t that amazing?. God is the author of this universe, he has tabs on you and I every second of our life.  I mean how cool is it, that God can just cross two peoples paths, to meet a need, to increase our faith and bring Him so much glory.

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”  Matt 7:11

Did you know the Bible says that one of the names God goes by is Jehovah Jireh. The Hebrew translation for this means God will provide. I Love this. We think that we know how to give good gifts to those we love, but God declares that he knows how to give us better gifts than our earthly parents, if we would only ask him. I’m not going to say that if you ask God for a million bucks that the next day you’re going to get a cheque in the mail, but what I am saying is that, if what you ask for is in line with the will of God, and His will for your life, you can have it. God knows what you need before you ask him, but He still says, to come to him with your requests and supplications and with thanksgiving he will give us the desires of our heart. God is your provider. I dare you to trust God with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding with whatever it is, that you need or desire. Ask, Believe, give Thanks, and Receive.

Praise God for the gift of friendship.  Ivy is one of the members of IWOF and I am so thankful that God has placed her in my life. She was one of the first women who inspired me to be a great woman of faith and our friendship will always be a reminder of Gods faithfulness to the promise He gives us in Proverbs 3:5-6.  Praise God!


What desire or need do you have that you have not yet submitted to the Lord? Are you trusting God with all of your heart or do you tend  trust in your own understanding?  Do you have faith that God alone can provide for your every need? What changes will you need to make, in order to trust God with all of your heart?