Jehovah Jireh

Our Provider

Lots of people now seem to be thinking about survival. Borders are being closed again and some cities are locked down for the second time, others are seeing new Covid-19 clusters. We have all been fighting this virus for months and months. The media are still spreading fear and distrust ..

So I have been asking my friend Jesus (John 15:15) what to think about all this, and more particularly, what should I, and my wife Trish, be doing to prepare for whatever unknowns may be thrown at us in these most uncertain times.

When our children were younger Trish and I had a hundred acre hobby farm three hours South from here. It was beautiful hilly land with a small river, many trees, mighty rock outcrops and fabulous views. When we went outside at night and lay on the grass we could see a million stars and hear total silence, glorious! We kept cows and goats, chickens, ducks, geese and Guinea fowl, a happy Australian Kelpie dog, small parrots and sometimes cats. We had dams and tanks for our irrigation and drinking water and either sunshine or fires gave us our hot water. Trish developed a magnificent garden; our orchard was just beginning to produce fruit when we sold up and came to the city.

There are so many memories of those years and they come to mind when I consider the world today. Is Jesus prompting us to sell up from the city and establish a "safe place", some kind of self-sufficient small farm far from the looming troubles? After all, Trish teaches home economics, gardening and even permaculture, and I am good at planning and design, and am an accomplished handyman with great tools. We would be excellent candidates to attempt such a project.

When the coronavirus first started to spread I began to think these thoughts but quickly said "no". In my heart I think I meant "no, not yet, wait a while". So I have been seeking Jesus' counsel on this for several months.

God said to Abraham "Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide" (Genesis 22:14). This account is early in the Bible and sounds, to me, very reassuring. At the time Abraham was on his way to sacrifice his son to God. He may have thought this a strange request seeing as God had promised that Abraham would be "father of many nations"; to achieve this Isaac would need to be alive and married and have children, not be a dead son on a mountain.

But Abraham desired above all else to obey this God who had found him, so he fully planned to go ahead with the sacrifice; (this would have been considered quite normal in those days). But, (and here is the great part of the story), Abraham knew God and had faith that God would fulfill His plans (Hebrews 11:8-10); it followed, as night follows day, that God would provide everything necessary so that the sacrifice could go ahead and Abraham would be father to nations. Well God did, He provided, (Genesis 22:8, 22:13), this is according to His nature, and He never changes (James 1:17).

I have been thinking about this while I consider our possible (?) self-sufficient country acres:

• Our self-supplied sufficiency would mean that we are far from the God-given sufficiency of our children who now are all within a forty-minute drive from here, a big loss to us.

• We would also lose our close contact with our Christian brothers and sisters with whom we share so much, who are "our church", the ecclesia or "gathered ones" God has given us for life and discipleship and fellowship and love.

• Trish would have to leave her job, which she loves, teaching life skills to teenagers, a huge loss to her, and to them!

• As a couple, we would also lose the opportunity to have God show us how much He loves and cares for us .. right through the Bible He shows us how He came to people who were at the absolute end of their strength and resources; then from His love, He would "meet all their needs" (Matthew 6:25-34, Luke 12:22-34, Philippians 4:19).

If we are busy day and night looking after our chickens and cows, our gardens and water supplies, indeed all of our self-sufficiency, then we will have no time to care for and serve others or to maintain our relationship with our lovely Jesus. In Jesus, God has given each of us works to do so that His will may be done on the Earth (John 14:12); He really wants us to be about these works and not shrinking back (Philippians 2:12).

The works are not something to keep us busy and out of trouble, they are necessary for God's plans for the world to unfold. God chose us specially, every single Christian, man, woman and child (Ephesians 1:4), and is equipping us for the life (Ephesians 4:1) and the destiny He always planned (Ephesians 2:10). Jesus gave everything for us (Ephesians 5:27), He is worthy of His bride, a perfect bride, spotless and radiant (Revelation 19:7), our works here will make glorious white linen garments (Revelation 19:7-8) that we will wear for our wedding feast with Jesus, and that will be a very big day in Heaven (Revelation 19:6-9).

Time and again we rejoice in Scripture where God shows that He is our "foundation" (Isaiah 33:6), our "rock" (Deuteronomy 32:4), our "deliverer" (Psalm 144:2), and is "good" (2 Corinthians 1:20).

These days I spend so much time thinking about truth (John 1:17). I am aware that truth is being driven from the media and public discussion, and from our children's and grandchildren's education. In these confusing times we have an opportunity to live out our certain knowledge of truth, being sure of where we come from and to whom we belong, knowing right from wrong and good from evil (Proverbs 14:22) and helping others who are struggling (Matthew 25:44, Acts 20:35).

God will care for our material needs as He did for Israel for forty years in the desert, and how He has done for millions of His people through all the centuries since.

When I set aside "quiet time" to read, ponder and pray, Jesus often gives me a Scripture to read to get me started. In all the years we have been doing this he has only given the book of Revelation once and that was years ago. For about three weeks we read Revelation every morning; I found it very hard going.

At the end of that time Jesus said, "John, we are done. Now tell me what you have found in this book". What I found was clear: the end times are surely coming and they will be very hard. They will be hard for everybody including Christians, and deadly for many. If we "cleave" to Jesus (Luke 9:23, John 9:38, Acts 11:23 Amplified) He will continue to be "our hope" (Psalm 119:114), "our rock" (Psalm 144:1), "our fortress" (Psalm 71:3) and "our deliverer" (Psalm 18:2), even if we go hungry or we die. 

Only those Christians who truly cleave to Jesus will know peace (John 14:27, John 16:33), because they will have Jesus in their heart and He will continually fill their spirit (Acts 4:31). For everybody else it will be uncertain, terrifying and dreadful (Revelation 13, 17). Only Jesus' followers will have anything besides them-self (Matthew 17:7-8, John 8:9).

Even as their brother lay dead, Mary and Martha learned that it is better by far to be near to Jesus than anywhere else (Luke 10:40-41). Centuries previously the sons of Kora declared that, even under the Old Covenant, where-ever the Lord dwelt, that was the best and safest place for us:

"Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked" (Psalm 84:10).

Favourite Scriptures

In Matthew 6 Jesus tells his disciples: "Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on .. Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they .. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these" (6:25-30). He adds: "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own"  (Matthew 6:32-34).

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

"Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;  it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints" (Revelation 19:7-8).

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that [my people] may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).

Besides

I believe that self-sufficiency is now pretty much a myth ..

We all now depend on so many electric and digital appliances and tools. Most of what we have was manufactured to last a short while and be replaced. Things which can be repaired usually need an expert and specialised parts. If you cannot repair or replace something essential then you will be stuck. My grandparents had things which were designed and built to last a lifetime and more, Grandpa and Grandma knew how to use them and keep them working and were prepared to put in the necessary hours to do all this. Most of their meals were cooked from a very limited range of fresh food on a wood-fired stove which hourly needed fuel. These are fundamental issues.

Another thing. Those future-apocalyptic movies show the world as it has always been. When devastating times come so do the roving bands of lawless strong men with their guns, dogs and trucks. The land-holders get put in the ground or driven off into the wilderness and their self-sufficiency turns out to be transitory. It may have been lovely but then it is gone. Jesus is offering us a better path, a path which has been proven throughout history. We may know God as our “shield” and “fortress” but this will not stop many others being fearful all the time; those people need us to show the truth and the way ..

Jesus Assures Us

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world"  (John 16:33).

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27).

Praise Jesus. Amen.

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Bless us all.