The Greatest Provision

“And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:11

It’s been a little over 7 months since I have written a blog post. There are several reasons for this gap in writing, one being that God blessed me with a thriving personal training business over the last couple of years as our country slowly made its way back to “normal” from the Covid Pandemic.

Another factor is that my husband, Michael, and I were seeking God for His will in making a move back to Texas. Over the three plus years that we had been serving in Washington, it began to stir on our hearts to be back in a region of the US where we could be closer to our three adult children and other family members. There was also the fact that Michael was working two jobs, and he had a desire to have one full-time job in ministry again.

As most Christians know well, when you begin seeking God’s will and praying for change, it pretty much never happens when and how you think it might…and that is a GOOD THING! While it’s not always easy, it takes patience and full trust in God for His perfect provision! When you wait and you trust and you don’t act on your own out of impatience, then the result is flawless because you are right where God wants you to be! And right where God wants you to be does not mean without difficulties and challenges. That’s part of the joy of being in His will…you get to be lifted up in His strength, supplied with His peace, and see His faithfulness in all circumstances!

When studying the Bible, we learn immediately that God is the perfect provider as He created the perfect environment for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve failed in their trust of God, just as we all do at times since that very first disobedience. A few chapters over from the Creation story, we learn again that we CAN and SHOULD trust God as our provider in Genesis 22:14:

“And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said: “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.”

It is in this dramatic story about Abraham and Isaac that we learn God’s name – YHWH Yireh translated Jehovah-Jireh meaning “The-LORD-Will-Provide”.

One of the blessings of living a number of years on this earth is that you get to see God display His faithfulness over and over again to where you begin to never doubt that HE WILL provide. Too bad we spend so much time worrying! Oh, if only it didn’t take so long for us to realize that God does not think and act like we do! His time table is not ours. He does not have responsive actions to circumstances because He already has His perfect plans laid out! Praise God! We just have to trust!

When the waiting and wondering gets hard; however, it helps me to remember some of the big moments in life when God provided for me in dramatic ways during dramatic trials!

One of those times in my life was when I had a major life threatening medical emergency. I sustained a major injury that began as a bruise to my right kidney much like some football players get during games. In my injury, a vein in my bruise ruptured and created major internal bleeding! Two weeks, two different hospitals, two operations, and two units of a blood transfusion later, I began a long road of recovery to gaining my strength back. When I think back to that time, it is the joy of God’s provisions that trump all other thoughts!

I remember a moment in the first hospital when I was so weak that I told God that I couldn’t even think to pray. His gently voice told me in the quiet of my heart, “It’s okay, Robin. There are so many praying for you right now. Just sleep.” I felt the prayers of many then, and I slept. I remember all the nurses and doctors and how much they truly cared for me and were so kind to me. I knew God provided all those special people to help me. And then, I remember when I was told that I would need a blood transfusion, family and friends were willing to get tested to see if they could give me blood. I ended up receiving a unit from my mother and a unit from my sister. When the transfusion was over, I truly felt revived and like I finally had life in me again!

When the waiting and wondering gets hard, it helps me to remember that God’s provisions have nothing to do with material things (although He does bless some of us in that way). I have had the privilege to visit Haiti, the western hemisphere’s poorest country, twice on short mission trips. The biggest thing I brought back with me from those trips was that Christian Haitians have something that the vast majority of American Christians do not. They wear carefree joyous smiles on their faces because rather than being concerned about what they don’t have, they soak up the best thing that God provides them…Himself!

When the waiting and wondering gets hard, and I am trying to grasp and understand my present circumstances, it helps me to remember how God has promised the provision of my future and forever home with Him! It helps me to remember that my citizenship is in Heaven (Philippians 3:20-21). This life is a journey to grow and know Him better, to bear His fruits, and to be a light to others, with the promise that one day there will be no more sorrow and only forever joy (Revelation 21:4-7)! Praise God!

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe…” Hebrews 12:28

Recently, as I said above, Michael and I were seeking God’s will and His provision for our next steps in life. It is a blessing to be a part of how He has rolled out His plan for us over this past year! He provided on His time table in His perfection! We are now living in Floresville, Texas in full-time ministry, and within driving distance of many friends and family! Are there challenges? Yes, but we are excited to see how God provides all of our needs and how He blesses us, our children, our church family, and our community beyond all the we can imagine!

“ Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

As we begin December, this time of the year is a reminder that THE GREATEST PROVISON of all is JESUS, God’s Son, who came in the form of a baby to be Immanuel, God with us! To be our Savior! To be our reason for all we do!

May your CHRISTmas be blessed with the abundance of His provisions for your life!