“The Lord will provide, Christa.”

My sister said these words to me when I cried about the accumulating bills of my first pregnancy.
“Easy for her to say. She’s not in my shoes,” I thought.

8 years later, I find myself encouraging those around me with the same phrase: “The Lord will provide.” I know others might think (as I once did) that the words are full of meaningless comfort. But the conviction with which I say them has been born out of years of seeing the Lord provide over and over again, at times when it seemed absolutely impossible. 

There’s No Way!

When my husband approached me with the idea to enroll in seminary for a four-year degree and mentioned the cost, I was incredulous. “There’s no way we could pay for that!”

We put it all on paper to see if we could work something out. The bottom line? The only way we could afford this degree was if we didn’t spend money on anything in the following categories: doctor and dentist visits, vehicle maintenance and repairs, home repairs, birthday/Christmas gifts, etc.

We also knew this meant we couldn’t have any more children during this degree for two reasons:
1. Medical bills.
2. Our car only fit 5 people, and an additional child necessitated a larger vehicle.

It made no sense.
It was ridiculous, actually.
Why would anyone jump into a four-year commitment like this—especially when they have 3 small children?

But we knew this was God’s plan.

 

God Made a Way

Here we are, 5+ years after trying to work out our crazy budget on paper, and the Lord has enabled us to pay for Jonathan’s schooling. Plus, we had another child and purchased a larger vehicle.

When we began this journey, I started keeping track of specific ways the Lord provided. I knew the Lord would provide. But I didn’t know how. And I didn’t want to come to the end of the degree, look back, and say, “Well, how in the world did God do that?” I wanted to be able to look at specific instances of God’s provision and allow it to strengthen my faith for the future.

 

How Did He Do It?

Would you like to see how God provided? My prayer is that as you read through this post, your faith in Jehovah Jireh will be strengthened as you consider not only how He’s provided for my family, but reflect on how He has provided for you.

I won’t share every instance of the Lord’s provision, but here are some excerpts of both big and small provisions from my trust journal:

• “received 8 bottles laundry detergent from Brenda, because they had to switch to a different type of detergent”
• “Chris babysat our kids for free and Jonathan and I used gift cards for dinner. Free date!”
• “Bill and Amy gave us their hand-me-down car seat and stroller combo.”
• “Randomly received $200.”
• “got tons of hand-me-down boy clothes from Renee”
• “Angie let me come over and get home decor items from her attic as she was purging. I didn’t need the home decor items, of course, but it’s something I love creating with, so it’s like an extra gift God gave me just because.”
• “Michelle refused payment for watching our kids and told me to use it for a date or to pay another babysitter. Sweet.”
• “Angus & Cheri let Jonathan stay in their home while he’s in classes at Kentucky—even though he’s a complete stranger!”
• “Got an anonymous $1000!”
• “Yard sale finds—Hello Kitty clothes and rainboots for Anna Grace”
• “Had to get work done on our car. Took it to John’s shop—he is always kind to give us a discount and we trust his work.”
• “Won a $100 gift card from Christina’s blog”
• “Jen brought over super nice hand-me-down clothes for Nate”
• “Got three $5 coupons for Aldi in the mail”
• “tax refund came in!”
• “Sonya gave me two bags of food she couldn’t take on her move”
• “Jonathan has been able to work for the seminary as a teacher’s assistant.”

I especially love this entry from September 11, 2013:

“Psalm 44:6-7: “For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us.”
And my paraphrase is: For not in my bank account do I trust, neither can my wealthy friends save me. But you have provided for and saved us.”

 

The Lord Will Provide

I didn’t write this out to boast or make anyone jealous. I wrote it out because my God is Jehovah Jireh. He provides not just for me, but for you too.

Here’s another entry from September 23:

“Many times I say, “God will provide.”
But that’s not the whole truth.
The whole truth is that God HAS provided already.
I have everything I need right now.”

 

The Lord Has Provided

How has the Lord provided for you in the past?
How is he providing for you today?
What do you need to trust him with in the future?

Together, let’s use the faithfulness of God in the past to strengthen our trust in Him for the future. The Lord will provide.