The Lord Provides!

"Therefore
take no thought,
saying,
What shall
we eat?
or,
What shall
we drink?
or,
Wherewithal
shall we
be clothed?
(For after
all these things
do the
Gentiles seek:)
for your
heavenly Father
knoweth
that ye
have need
of all
these things.
But
seek ye first
the kingdom
of God,
and
his righteousness;
and all
these things
shall be added
unto you."
Matthew 6:31-33

Let's face it, by now we all know that life has its ups and downs.  Some seasons of life find us skimming across the quiet, serene ocean with no huge waves looming anywhere even close to the horizon.  

All is right in our little corner of the world.

Then there are other seasons of life which find us out on that very same ocean, but overnight the entire scenario has changed.  

Now we find ourselves battling waves which are tossing us to and fro.  We are attempting to keep our heads above water, while trying our best to get our weary, completely worn out body safely to the shore! 

Do you know that the Lord DOES provide us with His exceeding, abundant blessings and provisions in the “good” seasons, as well as in the “difficult” seasons?  When the ocean is calm, as well as when the ocean is raging all around us?

It’s just easier to see His blessings and provisions during those sun-filled, cloudless, "not-a-care-in-the-world" kind of days.

OR IS IT?

When all is going well, do we REALLY stop and take time to notice all of the Lord’s provisions which He provides for us on a daily, moment by moment basis?  The big provisions as well as the "simple" ones?

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:19

I know personally when things are going well, it’s easy to slip into a “take it for granted” type mode.  

I certainly don't mean to develop this attitude.  I guess I just "kind-of, sort-of" seem to forget ALL the ways the Lord is blessing and providing for me.  His blessings tend to become "the norm".  

This should NEVER be!

But when the difficult times enter my life, they cause me to awaken to all, even the smallest provisions, which the Lord bestows upon me.  

Trials and hardships make me sit up a bit straighter and take much more interest in how the Lord is providing for my specific needs.  

The smallest of blessings!  

The simple joys!

That's exactly the way the Lord intends it to be!  

STOP!  Let me back up! 

 

The Lord desires for us to take note of His provisions at ALL times and in doing so to praise Him at ALL times. 

The following verse contains some VERY hard "toe-stepping", "heart wrenching", "soul-searching" words.

"I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth."
Psalm 34:1

Can anyone say, "OUCH!"

It IS God's Word and it IS meant to be lived out at ALL times.  Major conviction.  And, YES, I am definitely speaking to myself!

The hard times are when we need to ask the Lord to open our eyes VERY WIDE to the most minute, the most detailed of provisions which He bestows upon us.  

Things we may normally overlook or take for granted.

Of course we may need to peer way past the dark ominous clouds in order to see these blessings and provisions.

But they are there, if we take the time to look and ask the Lord to reveal them to us.

Recently one of my blessings which the Lord bestowed upon me was in the form of a guy named Mike!

I needed to have a CT scan of my skull, and Mike was my tech!

He was a gentle, giant of a guy!

Brian and I forewarned him that getting me laid down flat on that cold, hard, skinny, metal table was going to be EXTREMELY difficult due to the episodes of vertigo which I've been experiencing for the past three months, and our prediction did not disappoint him!

Brian was standing on one side of the table and Mike was on the other side.  

As I was going down, my world was spinning every which way.  My one hand was holding onto Brian’s for dear life.  My other hand was clenched tightly to Mike's hand as if it was my last life line!  Brian totally expected it, but Mike was a complete stranger!!

I kept apologizing to Mike, and to Brian!  They both kept reassuring me that it was okay and I was doing great.

When Mike needed to readjust me on the table, he talked me through everything he was going to do so he wouldn’t catch me off guard and make the vertigo worse.

I could see the look of concern and compassion on his face and I could feel it in his strong hand which by now seemed to have become my third hand!

Mike did something else very special for me.  

He went the extra mile!

The CT machine slices the images down to a certain millimeter, but he formatted mine to cut the slices even smaller so if there happened to be a problem with my skull, the scan would definitely detect it.

He really didn't need to do that.

On a day when my world was spinning out of control, as well as my anxious thoughts, the Lord met a specific need in my life.  

He gave me a tremendous blessing! 

He provided as only He can!  

He gave me a CT tech named Mike who took great care of me.  

A tech who showed me nothing but compassion instead of frustration.

A tech who was willing to take the time and make the effort to go above and beyond to make sure if there was a problem that it would not go unnoticed.  

A tech who treated me like a patient and not “a number”.  

A tech who wasn’t supposed to let Brian stay in the room with me, but saw how much I REALLY needed him with me.  So he threw a lead apron on Brian, proceeded with the test, and no further questions were asked! 

A tech with a strong, steady hand which he readily extended to me in my time of need.

When the test was over and I was back to sitting upright, I thanked him once again for being a tremendous help to me.  

By now, of course, I had tears in my eyes.

Why?

Partly from the sheer exhaustion of the test.  Partly from being so relieved it was over.  Partly because that's just who I am!

While the tears were streaming down my face, Mike looked at me and said, “You did amazing”.  I managed to reply in a choked up voice, “Oh, no, it wasn’t me at all, I had many, many people praying for me.”

Thank You, Lord, for meeting my specific need that day in a way that only You could by providing me with a CT tech named Mike! 

Jehovah-Jireh
means
"The LORD will provide"

He definitely DOES provide in the "good" times of life, in the "hard" times of life, in ALL times of life. 

What about you?  

How has the Lord recently provided a specific need in YOUR life?  

Please feel free to leave me a comment.  I would love to read and rejoice with you in hearing how Jehovah-Jireh provided just for YOU!

Like the song says
"Till the ocean
runs dry,
My God is
my Provider"

 

 

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May God Bless You,

Barb