The God Who Provides
Yahweh Yireh
The God who Provides.
God always provides. Like always.
But I think we get hung up too often in what we think Providence should look like, that we actually miss what it is.
Think about the stories we know:
-Abraham is about to sacrifice his only son out of obedience, his hand is stayed, and God provides a ram, the sacrifice is still made.
-The Israelites ask for a new king, God provides a shepherd boy, King David.
-The Israelites are about to be wiped out, God puts a lowly Jewish woman in favor with the king, Queen Esther convinces her husband not to kill her people.
-The Israelites are running from the Egyptians, there’s a whole ocean in the way, what does God provide? Not a bridge, not a bunch of boats, no, He literally splits open the sea so they may walk on dry land.
-The Israelites are being bitten by serpents, God provides and image of a serpent in bronze for them to be healed by.
-They’re thirsty, bam! Water from a rock in the middle of a desert.
-They’re hungry, bam! Weird white edible stuff falls from the sky.
-They fall and fail time and time again and again and again God provides for His people.
Genesis, the first Fall in the Garden, and what does God say to the serpent?
Not “I’m gonna kill you.” Or “all my people will now be immune to snake bites.”
But instead: “There will come a woman, and her offspring will crush your head while you strike at his heel.”
The messiah.
What a weird way to provide a solution, right?
But even when He came, even when God provided just what the Jewish people had been praying for for centuries, we didn’t recognize Him.
Mary and Joseph, traveling to the City of David, no room in the inn. God provides not a palace, not a temple, but a manger for a labor and delivery room.
A manger. For the Son of God. Messiah. Emmanuel.
We looked for a mighty King, a Prince, A warrior.
God sent a tiny, helpless, crying baby.
God provides.
But it’s not always what we’re looking for.
We looked for a King,
He sent a servant — one who fed the hungry, cured the blind and lame, ate with beggars and tax collectors and Pharisees alike, the rich and the scumbags.
We looked for a warrior,
He provided a peacemaker, a man of mercy and justice alike
We looked for a man who would bring about the promised eternity.
He sent us a Son who was willing to die.
God. Always. Provides.
May we be humble enough to really see His Providence for the mercy it is, instead of what we think it should look like.
Merry Christmas.
He is with us.
Even when it doesn't look like what we thought it should.