GOD IS PROVIDER: JEHOVAH JIREH - Pastor Tyronne Gross | Midtown Church Elk Grove

My name is Tyron.

I'm one of the pastors here.

And I truly believe that you are here for a reason.

Amen.

Amen.

I pray that you guys have been blessed by the service so far.

Can we give it up for our worship team and our band?

I'm going to be continuing in our sermon series.

I'm titled God Is.

It's a series about the character and nature of God.

I pray that this, if you've been around for the last few weeks, I pray that this has been a blessing for you.

A few weeks ago, we looked at God as Elohim, the one true God, the all-powerful creator.

Amen.

And last Sunday, Pastor Otis, he reminded us that God is truth.

And he challenged us with this question: Whose truth do I trust?

Whose truth do I trust?

And if God's word is true, sooner or later, every one of us will go through a season where what God has promised doesn't match our reality.

It doesn't match the experience that we're filling.

Not because God isn't true.

It's because sometimes his timing and his methods and his provision aren't always visible.

And that's where some of us live, amen.

So what do we do when we don't see the answer?

What do we do when we don't understand his timing?

What do we do when the promises are not lining up?

What do we do?

I think one of the reasons most of us struggle with this, or this may be difficult, is because we all have come accustomed to wanting things immediately.

Amen.

And we could we could thank Amazon, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Instacart, you know, whatever it is, whatever you do, like we we become people that we expect things to happen like when we want it.

Like just the other day, um, I ordered something.

Well, actually, it wasn't something, I ordered blueberry coffee creamer.

Now, now this blueberry, like I some of y'all told you, I'm not really a coffee drinker, but the thing is, if you drink coffee every day, you're a coffee drinker.

And and I used to be able to say, you know, I would drink coffee so that I could connect with my wife.

But if I'm being honest, by the time she comes downstairs when she wakes up, I've already had a cup of coffee.

So so I'm a coffee drinker now.

Uh it wasn't always like that.

But but to this blueberry coffee creamer.

Now, it's my dad's fault.

My dad, you know, this was some years ago.

My dad said, Hey son, I want you to try this.

And I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't really trying to fool with him because I don't I don't do all that fruity stuff.

Like, I, you know, I mean, uh some little vanilla, maybe a little caramel, but I ain't messing with nothing else.

But he was like, son, you gotta try this coffee creamer.

And so I finally tried the coffee creamer and it didn't disappoint.

Like, I pops knew what he was talking about, like, man, that stuff was good.

I was like, whoo! And what do we do when something's good?

What do we do?

We go buy it, right?

Man, I went to go buy it and I couldn't find this thing nowhere.

I went online, it's like it disappeared.

And so I was a little upset because he got me hooked on this coffee cream and I couldn't find it no more.

But then my mother, she called me last week.

She said, Son, when you coming down here?

I said, Uh I don't know.

She says, I got some for you.

I said, What you got?

She said, blueberry coffee cream.

I said, Praise God.

Like, oh, she got that coffee creamer.

I was so excited.

And so, but I couldn't wait until I went to go see her.

So what did I do?

I went online and I found it this time.

And I placed my order.

And and then I remember the next morning I was waiting downstairs at the door by the window.

Y'all remember those commercials?

Open, open.

Y'all remember those?

I think it was Macy's or J.

Like I was standing there like this, like, man.

And then a few hours had passed, I didn't have no coffee, and the coffee creamer didn't show up.

I'm like, what is going on?

I I was I was a little I was a little irritated.

I was upset.

I I was just gonna Has anybody ever felt that way?

Like you was waiting for something and wondering like what happened?

I I was upset.

But here's the thing: we've become so accustomed to immediate gratification that that two-day shipping isn't fast enough any longer.

Like it's a problem.

Like we all want instant answers, we want instant healing, we want instant breakthroughs, we want instant provision.

And at times, you know, we begin expecting Amazon Prime time from God.

Like that's our timing.

Like, oh God, you gotta be like Amazon Prime.

Like we boop, I prayed.

Um I wait for you, like I'm waiting for my breakthrough now.

Like, Lord, I prayed.

Where is that provision at?

I'm being obedient, I'm walking in the calling.

Why is it so hard?

See, the thing is, when we can't see what God is doing, we often assume that God isn't doing anything.

The title of the message today is God is Provider, Jehovah Jireh.

Now, I know many of you you've heard Jehovah Jirah.

You you've sung songs, worship songs with the name, but today I don't want us just to learn another name about God.

I want us to learn uh and to discover the the God behind the name.

Amen.

And so if you have your Bibles this morning, um could you turn to Genesis chapter 22?

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 22, or you can follow along on the screen.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

I'm gonna start reading at verse number one.

Sometime later, God tested Abraham.

He said to him, Abraham, here I am, he replied.

Then God said, Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah.

Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering, and on a mountain I will show you.

Can you imagine hearing those words?

Let us pray.

Father God, I thank you for this day.

Father God, I thank you for who you are, Lord.

Use me, speak through me.

Allow this message to touch the hearts of your people.

Allow everyone to grab hold of what they need from your word this morning.

We ask all these things in your mighty name.

We pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So, some biblical background before I go further and before we walk up this uh mountain with Abraham, I want us to understand that something about Genesis 22.

Genesis 22 doesn't begin at Genesis 22.

See, by the time that we arrive here, Abraham had been walking with God for decades.

So Abraham, he's not a new believer, he's not someone who's never seen God work.

In fact, Abraham's entire story is marked by God's faithfulness.

See, when God called him to leave everything familiar, Abraham discovered that God is faithful.

See, when when when God made a covenant with him, Abraham discovered that God keeps his promises.

When Abraham failed, God was faithful.

When Abraham was impatient, God was faithful.

When 25 years had passed without seeing the promise, God was faithful.

And then after all that time, when years was passed, God gave Abraham exactly what he had promised.

He gave Abraham a son.

Isaac wasn't just Abraham's son, Isaac was evidence that God keeps his word.

So every time Abraham looked at Isaac, he was reminded that God had done the impossible, that God was faithful, that God had provided, which is exactly what makes Genesis 22 so shocking.

Because the very God that gave Abraham the promise is now asking Abraham to trust him with the promise.

See, sometimes he simply says, go.

Can you say go?

And Abraham had to make a decision.

He had to make a decision.

Well, he trusts what he can see, or what he trusts the God he's um become to know.

And the truth is this every one of us will eventually face the same decision, and sooner or later we'll find ourselves asking the same question, God, what are you doing?

Maybe in your marriage, maybe in your um health, maybe in your finances, maybe in your calling, or maybe it's the prayer you've been praying for years, and you're wondering, God, where are you?

But maybe we're asking the wrong question.

Maybe it should be instead, instead of God, where are you?

Maybe we should ask, How do I trust the God when I don't understand what he's doing?

How do I trust God when I don't understand what he's doing?

Here's point number one if you're taking notes or following along in your outline.

Jehovah Jireh sees what we cannot see.

Jehovah Jireh sees what we cannot see.

Verse 1 says, Sometimes later God tested Abraham.

He said to Abraham, Here I am, he replied.

Then God said, Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah.

Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain, I will show you.

Early the next morning, Abraham got up and loaded his donkey.

He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac.

When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him to told him about.

On the third day, Abraham looked up and he saw the place in a distance.

He said to his servant, Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.

We will worship and then we'll come back to you.

So what do I do when I don't understand what God is doing?

What do I do?

The first thing Abraham teaches us is remember that God is Jehovah Jirah.

Verse 1 says, Sometime later, God tested Abraham.

So I want us to pause here for a moment because Moses, the author of Genesis, he was telling us something Abraham doesn't know.

See, he Abraham didn't know that this was a test.

Abraham, uh, he he all he knew that was God has spoken.

And so he went.

Amen.

That is an important reminder because there's always a difference between what we can see and what God can see.

Let me paint you a picture.

Um, how many of us ever been on a road trip and we're on the freeway and we're stuck behind one of those big semi-trucks?

Right?

You know, the power mind, you can't see anything.

You can't see the traffic if it's stopped, you can't see if there's an accident, you can't see if the road is getting ready to curve.

All you see is this big old truck in front of you.

Now, if somebody is looking at the same road from above, they can see the band before you can, right?

They can see the traffic, they can see the detour, they can see exactly what's leading, uh, what exactly what's getting ready to happen before you're able to see it.

That's the difference between us and God.

That's the difference.

See, the problem isn't that God can't see what's ahead, the problem is that we keep judging our whole journey based off of what we can see.

We judge our whole journey based off of what we can see.

Abraham could only see the mountain.

God could already see what was waiting on the mountain.

Abraham, see, um, he could only see today's assignment, but God had tomorrow's provision.

Abraham saw the command, but God knew the purpose of the command.

Does it sound familiar?

Life has a way of putting every one of us in the same place.

We can see what's right in front of us.

We get stuck on that.

We go to the doctor, we get that diagnosis, or or or um, we get to the job and they're laying off.

Where we're stuck on that, the broken relationship or or the unanswered prayer, or just being uncertain.

We're stuck in this season of life, but we can't see what God can see.

That's why Isaiah says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither your ways, my ways, declares the Lord.

God has perspectives that we simply just don't have, which means faith has never been about seeing everything.

Faith is trusting the God who already does.

I want us to notice something in verse 3.

It says, early the next morning, Abraham got up.

This amazes me because there was no explanation, there was no negotiation, there was no delay.

He just went.

Now, I don't want you to misunderstand what I'm saying about what happened.

I'm not saying that he wasn't afraid.

I'm sure he was.

I'm not saying that he didn't have questions.

I'm sure he did.

I'm sure he felt all these different emotions and had all these different thoughts.

But Abraham had learned something over the last several decades in his relationship with God.

He learned that even when he didn't understand what God was doing, he could still trust who God is.

Amen.

Because every season of life had taught him something about who God is.

God is faithful, God keeps his promises, and now he was getting ready to discover something new about God that God is provider.

So when he said go, say go, Abraham didn't have all the answers, but he knew the one who did.

He knew the one who did.

What if that's exactly what God is asking you right now?

What if he's asking you and you're waiting for God to explain everything, and somebody else is waiting for God to give them the whole picture, and somebody else is waiting for everything to make sense, but what if God is asking you to not to understand everything?

What if he is simply asking you to trust?

That's a hard one.

Trust.

See, maybe you're here today and you're still wrestling and trying to figure out what you believe.

Maybe you're here and you're sitting here and it's like you've been hurt by the church or the people of the church.

Maybe you you you you've been spending uh all these years thinking that faith means pretending that you have all the answers and you have it all figured out.

And if that's you, I'm glad you're here.

I want you to look at your neighbor and say, you're in the right place.

You're in the right place, amen.

See, because following Jesus was never about pretending life made sense.

It was never preceding that that you had it all figured out.

See, one of the things I love about the people that we read about in the Bible is how honest they were with their stories.

Abraham, Sarah, Moses, David, Esther, Peter, I could keep going on and on.

They never had all the answers.

They didn't have all the questions, they they didn't mind, you know, letting us know that they had fear, they had moments when they couldn't see what God was doing, but they kept choosing to trust.

Faith is an absence of questions, it isn't the absence of questions.

Faith is choosing who you will trust when you don't know what to do, and when you don't have all the answers, amen?

Because when I don't understand what God is doing, I have to remember that God is a Jehovah Jireh.

He sees what I can't see.

Amen.

Then I can trust who he is and who he's been in my life.

Here's point number two Jehovah Jireh provides what we need.

Verse 6 says, Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he and he himself carried the fire in the knife.

As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father, Abraham, Father, yes, my son Abraham replied, The fire in the wood are here, Isaac said, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

Abraham answered, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.

And the two of them went together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.

He bound his son Isaac and he laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

Verse 10.

Then he reached out his hand and he took the knife to slay his son.

But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, Abraham, Abraham, here I am, he replied.

He said, Do not do anything to him.

Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from my me, your son, your only son.

So what do I do when we still what do we do when we still don't understand what God is doing?

We keep trusting the God that we've come to know.

Verse 6 says, Abraham, he took the wood of the burnt offering and he placed it on his son Isaac, and together they begin walking up the mountain.

Can you imagine?

I as I was studying this, I could not imagine one of my boys and going up this mountain, not having any answers or questioning.

I I couldn't, I couldn't do it.

I could not see myself there.

But then Isaac, he asked one of the most honest questions that we find in Scripture.

He says, Father, Abraham replied, Yes, my son, the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

I love the question.

Like the way my son's asking, he's gonna, my son would ask that question.

Hey dad, I trust you, but I don't see no, I don't see no lamb right now.

What's going on?

Because if we're honest, we've all asked some version of that question.

God, where's the provision?

Father, where's my breakthrough?

Dad, where are you right now?

We've all been there.

But Abraham's response: God Himself will provide the Lamb.

God Himself will provide the Lamb.

We can't miss, we can't miss what Abraham says.

See, he didn't say, I know how this is going to work out.

He didn't say that.

He didn't say that I have it all figured out.

He didn't say that.

He said, God will provide.

God will provide.

That's faith.

That's faith.

Not because Abraham understood everything, but because Abraham had learned who God is.

Can I tell you where I think faith grows the most?

Not when everything makes sense, but when we keep walking with God when it doesn't, that's when our faith grows the most.

See, sometimes we want God to show us the whole plan before we're willing just to take a step.

But that's not usually how God works.

He doesn't always work like that.

He gives us enough grace for today.

He gives us enough strength for today.

He gives us enough light for today, just a little manna for today.

And then he asks us to trust him for tomorrow.

Trust him for tomorrow.

See?

And maybe this is why this story resonates with me so much.

I've had plenty of these mountain moments.

I I've shared my story and in different parts of it, but but as I was thinking about this one, I was just like, man, like that transition from football to the real world, it's two different lives.

You know, I found myself for the second time choosing obedience over opportunities that really look good.

See, God had given me this vision, not a business plan, but a vision, and I remember seeing a table and these chairs coming around it.

But at the time I had no clue that one day that will become the table community foundation.

I didn't know that.

I just knew that God said, Here you go.

And so I took what God showed me and I was trying my best to make it happen.

I I knew God said, Do this, so I was just gonna go.

He said, build it, I was gonna build it.

So every day I would wake up early in the morning and just like this is what God showed me, so I gotta figure out how to make this happen.

I gotta I gotta build it.

But if I'm honest, see the vision didn't come with a paycheck.

It didn't come with a paycheck.

There wasn't steady income.

There was days where I was wondering, God, it is this what you told me to do?

And after some years, because like it didn't, like I said, it didn't happen by the way.

So after some years went by, so about three or four years, then we found out Raquel and I found out that we were getting ready to have our first son.

So it wasn't about chasing a dream no more.

Like, I was getting ready to be a father.

Bills were real, responsibilities was real.

And there was moments when Raquel would lovingly ask, are you sure you weren't supposed to take that job?

And I would tell her, that's not what God told me.

But if I'm honest, I would go back and I'm like, Lord, are you sure I heard you right?

Are you sure this is what I'm supposed to do?

Not because I didn't trust God, not because I stopped believing him, but I didn't understand what God was doing.

Have anybody else been there?

Maybe you're there right now.

Amen.

See, where you know that God has said something, but when you're what you're living now, what you're experiencing, it just it's not it's not lining up.

But I know God said this.

See, looking back now, I realized something.

My mountain did not look like Abraham's mountain.

I I couldn't do that.

But the God I was trusting was the very same God.

See, and I was learning the very same lessons that he was learning.

God wasn't absent, he was preparing, he wasn't late, he was working, he wasn't withholding, he was providing, amen.

He was providing.

Just like Abraham, I couldn't see what God was doing while I was climbing the mountain.

But looking back now, I can see how Jehovah Jirah was there every step of the way, amen.

In fact, God allowed me to pay myself for the very first time right before my son was born.

Not six months before, not a year before, but right before.

And at that time it was stressful, but right now, today, God was faithful.

I can see it.

He was faithful, and I realized God's provision wasn't just at the finish line, it was with me every step of the journey.

Every step of the journey.

He provided strength when I was weak.

Amen.

He gave me peace when I was anxious, he gave me wisdom when I didn't know what to do.

He sent people to encourage me, opportunities at the right time.

His provision wasn't always what I expected, but it was exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed.

Amen.

Maybe your story doesn't look like my story.

But the struggle's the same.

The struggle's the same.

Maybe you're you're trying to figure out what you're supposed to do in your life.

Maybe you're trying to figure out your career or the path that you're supposed to be on.

Maybe God has placed something deep down in your heart, but all you can see is the obstacles that are in the way.

Can I encourage you?

Don't confuse a season of uncertainty with the absence of God's direction.

Sometimes the clearest evidence that God is leading you is that He is teaching you to trust Him one step at a time.

Amen?

So maybe you're waiting for that whole plan, or you, you know, you're waiting for God like God, just tell me when to take the next step.

I need to see the whole thing.

But that's not what God's gonna do.

He just says, trust me.

Trust me.

Because when I don't understand what God is doing, I have to remember that God is Jehovah Jirah.

He doesn't always provide the plan, but he's always providing the steps.

Amen.

See, see, he doesn't always remove the mountains, but he will be with you as you're climbing the mountain.

He's be with you.

The goal isn't just to be on top of the mountain, the goal is to trust them through the journey.

Amen.

That's who Jehovah Jireh is.

He provides exactly what we need, exactly when we need it.

Here's point number three Jehovah Jireh's greatest provision is Jesus.

Verse 13.

Abraham looked up, and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.

He went over and he took the ram and he sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

So Abraham called that place the Lord will provide, and to this day it is said, on that mountain of the Lord, it will be provided.

It will be provided.

So at that moment, Abraham needed God most.

The very moment that Abraham needed God most, God provided a ram in place of Isaac.

Don't miss those words.

Instead of Isaac, church, this is the beauty of this story.

God didn't simply provide a ram, He provided a substitute.

He provided a substitute.

See, the ram died so that Isaac could live.

The ram died so that Isaac could live.

And everything Abraham had experienced after the climb, after the questions, after the waiting, after the obedience, verse 14 says this.

Why?

Because Abraham knew something about God that he didn't know before.

Verse 14 tells us that he discovered that God is Jehovah Jireh.

That God is Jehovah Jireh.

Not because God always gives us what we want, but because God always gives us what we need.

God is provider.

Amen.

See, God saw the need before Abraham ever did.

God had the provision waiting before Abraham ever arrived.

God had been working the whole time.

Church, that's who Jehovah Jireh is.

Amen.

Amen.

He is the God who provides exactly what we need and exactly when we needed.

What I love about this story, I'm getting ready to wrap this up.

But what I love about this story is this points us to another mountain.

It doesn't just stop at this mountain right here.

See, Mount Moriah was pointing us to another father.

It was pointing us to another son.

Amen.

I want us to look at the parallels.

Abraham offered his beloved son.

God offered his beloved son.

Isaac carried the wood.

Jesus carried the cross.

Isaac was willingly, he climbed the mountain with his father.

Jesus willingly climbed Calvary for us.

He did it for us.

Then comes the greatest difference.

Here's the greatest difference.

Isaac was spared, but Jesus was not.

Isaac was spared, but Jesus was not.

See, because on the other mountain, there would be a ram in the thicket right over there.

That was the substitute for the sun.

But on this mountain, there was no substitute.

Jesus was a substitute for us, amen?

He was our substitute.

That's why Paul says in Romans 8.32, he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, he will not also, along with him, graciously, give us all things.

If God was willing to give us his greatest gift, if he was willing to give us his greatest gift, what reason do we have to doubt his heart right now, today?

He didn't withhold his son.

Why?

Because he loved us that much, amen.

Cross forever answers the questions of God's character.

See, whenever I wonder if God loves me, I don't look to my circumstances, I look at the cross.

Whenever you might wonder if God is faithful, don't get stuck in where you're at in the situation.

Remember what he did on the cross.

Whenever I wonder if God is still my provider, I can't forget the cross, amen.

Because the greatest thing Jehovah Jireh ever provided, it wasn't the ram, it was the incredible, incredible gift of his son.

The greatest thing that God has ever blessed you with, it wasn't your house, it wasn't your job, it wasn't your spouse, it wasn't your children, it wasn't your healing, it wasn't your breakthrough.

The greatest gift that God gave us was Jesus.

Amen.

Because every other provision, it meets a temporary need.

It meets the temporary need, but Jesus meets the eternal need.

See, every blessing that God gives us, it changes our life right now.

But Jesus forever changed our life when he got on the cross and he rose from the grave.

That is the greatest gift that Jehovah Jireh provided for you and I.

So when we don't understand what God is doing, we have to remember that God is Jehovah Jireh.

Amen.

So if we can if He can trust us with this greatest gift and we can be thankful for this, we should be able to trust Him with tomorrow.

We can't get caught up in what's happening right now.

We can't worry about the obstacle that's right here.

We just have to believe that God is who He said He is.

Amen.

And we have to remember what He's done before because if He's done it before, He can do it again.

As we get ready to close, let me encourage you with this.

I said before, maybe we're asking the wrong question.

Maybe the better question is, God, what are you teaching me about who you are?

Because sometimes God allows us to walk through a season we don't understand, so that we will discover him in ways that we never could.

Those seasons bring us closer to God.

That's exactly what happened to Abraham.

He was revealed a deeper truth about his father.

And maybe that's what God wants for you today.

Amen.

I'm gonna ask the prayer team to come up here, and I'm gonna leave you with a question before we close.

So here's the question.

Where is God inviting you to trust his character even when you can't understand his plan?

Where is God trust asking you to trust his character even when you can't understand his plan?

Because faith isn't about knowing everything, faith is knowing the one who does, amen.

God is Jehovah Jirah, the God who can see what I can't see, the God who provides exactly what I need, the God who provides exactly what I need.