Abigail Denton

Earlier this summer, my little family heard from God. We were planning to homeschool our three kids again this year, making it our third year in. But I very clearly felt God calling us to send the kids back to public school. I mentioned it to Isaac, and we started praying as a couple. We took some time to ask God to make his will clear and give us a word. Give me a word, really. I wanted a word or phrase from God that I could carry with me into this year. I wanted something to hold onto when the road gets bumpy. I know that no choice is easy, and there will be times that I regret sending them back. I wanted to hold onto something from the Lord that will carry me through those moments. And God gave me Jehovah Jireh.

In Genesis 22 Abraham brings Isaac up the mountain to sacrifice him because God asked him to. Abraham told Isaac that God would provide the sacrifice and God did. If you aren’t familiar with the story you can find it in Genesis 22. Reading this story over and over this summer I can’t help but see the parallels to my life right now.

Step out in Faith and Trust

God is asking me to step out in faith and trust that He will provide. God has laid a path before us and my job isn’t to solve all of the potential problems right now. I can’t see very far down the path so I’ve been spending my time processing what we’ll do about x, y, or z. How will I handle this? What if this happens to one of my kids? How will they respond to this? If I’m honest, I’ve spent an outrageous amount of time and energy worrying about what this school year holds for me and my kids. And God graciously keeps reminding me that He will provide. He will provide the teachers, friends, and experiences my kids need. Maybe not what they want, or what I would have chosen, but exactly what is needed. Just like God didn’t give Abraham a plan, He’s not giving me a plan either. He’s asking me to step out in faith and trust. God provided for Abraham with a lamb, and God will provide for me too.

I can’t predict how God will provide

God will provide in a different, and better way. Abraham didn’t exactly know how God was going to provide. Abraham didn’t have a three step plan organized and charted out. He couldn’t see what God was going to do, but he stepped out in faith trusting that God would come through for him. Isaiah 55:8 says “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.” I am clinging to the truth that God has bigger and better things in store for this fall than what I can plan and see. I’m chosing to be thankful that actually I’m not in charge and don’t need to carry that burden.

God keeps His Promises

Abraham trusted God’s promises by faith, not sight. Abraham clung to the promise God had given him regarding Isaac. He knew that God had promised to bring the blessing through Isaac and that’s what he clung to. He didn’t need to understand all the ways the path would turn and twist, he just knew what God said, trusted that God keeps his promises, and stepped forward in faith. God has proven himself to be faithful over and over and over in my own life as well. I can look back and see all the ways that God has faithfully provided for me in the past. He has seen me through some deep and dark seasons. He has graciously redeemed so much pain and healed wounds that almost took me out. God has not spared me from suffering, but that does not mean He hasn’t provided. He has provided through the suffering. He promises to always be with us and never leave us.

We’ve decided to claim this truth for our school year. We are speaking this over the kids as they head out each day. We are praying this over them as we go about our day, waiting for them to come home and debrief how it went.

To close, there is another way of seeing God’s provision: God sees. God cannot provide for us if He doesn’t see what we are going through. This school year, I’m clinging to the promise that God sees me and He will provide what is needed for His glory and my good. Whether there is a valley or mountaintop around the corner, I can trust God.