Jehovah Jireh: The Lord Will Provide, and He Did

As caretaker of the Gethsemane Prayer Garden at Faith Chapel, I have again seen where the Lord's promise, that He will provide, was today fulfilled.

In the Bible when Isaac asked Abraham, "Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?", Abraham replied these famous words, "The Lord will provide." The Hebrew for these words is in both Genesis 22:8 and 22:14 – transliterated as 'Elohiym jireh and then YHWH jireh. The King James Version renders Genesis 22:14 as Jehovah-Jireh, but it really means The Lord will provide.

We have been digging a small pond that we have named 'Pool of Siloam' as an extension of the small stream on the edge of the garden. The pond is surrounded by three very large willows which should have been a clue: lots and lots of roots. In any case, three of us were attempting to dig this 15' by 25' oval pond using just shovels. The digging portion of the farmer's backhoe that we normally use has been broken for over a year with no prospect that it will be fixed soon. We were very, very discouraged because the Lord had provided the vision for the pond.

Last night, in an email to a friend, I wrote "So far we are digging it by hand, but I am sure praying for some equipment to move that digging along." More pointedly, today at noon I asked one of the workers to join me in prayer that Dave Delaney who owns the farm adjacent to the church would provide the equipment that we need within the next 24 hours. I was really expecting a Jehovah Jireh experience.

Twenty minutes later, as I pulled out onto the main road from the church to pick up a lunch, I found myself behind Dave's pickup truck. I knew the Lord had arranged this – I followed him past my lunch spot to his roadside farm stand where he sells the most delicious corn. Dave met me as I got out of the car. "Are you digging that pond by hand?", he asked; I affirmed, "Yes." He told me how he stopped by last night and recognized the many shovel imprints, stating that is a mammoth project. I told him about the complications with the other farmer's backhoe.

The Lord then instructed me to buy some corn. (Earlier I had decided not to buy corn this year because my wife has been directed by her doctor not to eat corn.) I bought 6 ears; as I returned to my car, Dave was standing where I left him. He said, "I'll tell you what. If you are available, I'll bring my backhoe over tonight at 7pm – I can dig that in an hour where it will take you several days." He really meant weeks but he was being kind.

Dave showed up at 7pm as promised. He dug the pool in 45 minutes as his machine aggressively cut through the extensive mass of willow roots. I had no idea how difficult this would have been by hand. But God knew and that is why He provided. He fulfilled the prayer petition and promise within seven hours of it being spoken. Jehovah Jireh!