Jehovah Jireh, Our Provider

If you have ever been out of work or living from pay check to pay check, I would like to share with you my Jehovah Jireh. He is amazing how He provides for His children.

My husband and I experienced our Jehovah Jireh, our provider, for the first time in 1979, when my husband was out of work. We were young believers at the time with very little savings. How were we going to make it?  I was scared. My husband was now a Christian and because the company that he worked for were Christians, he didn't want to cause the company any problems by raising the company's unemployment compensations expenses, so he signed off on unemployment benefits. The company did give him two weeks departing pay . It  kept food on the table. We found a bible verse that spoke to our hearts and we spoke it to ourselves every day ."I have never seen the Righteous forsaken nor His seed begging bread." (Psalm 37;23) It really kept us in faith.

My husband and I were in a neighborhood bible study at the time, when Roger was laid off from work.  We were so blessed to have faithful friends praying for us during this hard financial crisis. Christmas that year were gifts from Care and Share.  Our girls were still in elementary school and were very understanding with their father's financial situation.

Just at the time, when we were about to run out of money, one of the brothers in the bible study came to us and said, "I have just been blessed with a big raise and Jesus said 'if you see a brother in need and you can help, give to him.' " So he did just that. He reached into his pocket and handed Roger $200.00.  What amazing love. He went on to say he would like to give to us $200.00 a week until Roger got a job. Plus Roger could borrow his pick- up truck during the day to look for a job.  We only had one car at the time for the girls activities.  What a great blessing that was to encourage  our young faith.

  Our God was providing for us in a very tangible way.  Jehovah Jireh , our great provider, kept us in His provision for seven months until Roger found a job. One morning when I was getting into the car to drive the children to school, two bags of groceries had been left in the front seat.  The note read 'love Jesus'. Our seven year old daughter said, "Mommy does Jesus write like that?" As a family, it was good for us to experience this trial together and to witness God's promise, "I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread." (Psalms 37:25)
 
Oh , there is so much I could tell you about Jehovah Jireh during that time, but this I would like to leave with you .  When God says in His word that He will never leave us or forsake us He really means it. One of my favorite Proverbs is 30:7-9, "Two things have I asked of You; deny them not before I die. Remove far from me falsehood and lies; give neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that needful for me. Lest I be full and deny You and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal, and so profane the name of my God." He knows our needs and will not forsake us.

I believe that the Lord takes care of His own. Our heavenly Father is very generous and will not let His children go begging. The world doesn't understand His graciousness but, our Father's heart is for us  and will provide more than enough to gave back to Him and share with others His provisional love through finances.