Jehovah Jireh

God gave Abraham a startling command. “Take your promised son and offer him in sacrifice!” So he bound Isaac with cords and laid him upon the altar. Just as Abraham raised his knife to kill his son, an authoritative voice from heaven said, “Do not lay a hand upon the boy.” Abraham looked and saw a ram caught by its horns. As a result of these events, Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh, “the Lord will provide” (Genesis 22:14).

Jehovah Jireh is not a personal name of God, but rather, the name of a place where God appeared. Still, it is a name that we ascribe to God. The name means God sees to everything beforehand. We never have a need that is not already met.

The key to discovering God to be our Jehovah Jireh is to pray, “Lord, You know what I want, and You love me better than I love myself. I choose Your provision over my own.”

When we give up our right to choose, then we discover that God’s provisions are better than we could imagine. His provisions always look ahead much further than we can see. If we were allowed to design our blessings, we would ask for blessings prematurely or for blessings too small. God often withholds what we ask because He has higher plans for us than we imagine.

He may lead us through what would seem to be unkind, unfair, and totally unnecessary paths. Suddenly He brings us to a turn in the road where we’re allowed to see His beautiful plan, and we glimpse a whole cluster of answered prayers. We then can see that the long and perhaps lonely way God led us was necessary so that He could provide far more blessings than we would have thought to ask for in prayer.

I praise You, Jehovah Jireh, that all Your purposes for every single thing You do for us are the result of infinite, eternal love.

“They that know thy name will put their trust in thee” (Psalm 9:10 KJV).