“ I do you believe in God. I went to Catholic school for all of my studies, including the college I attended to get my Bachelors degree. In 2019, I was living in LA and everything was fine. I just finished earning my degree and I was working full time. And then in 2020, Covid happened and everything changed. I was living on my own at the time, far from family and I was laid off from my job because of the pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding this virus. One day, I was sitting on my bed in the afternoon just sobbing because I didn’t know how I was going to pay my rent moving the next month. I decided to pray, knowing that God would take care of all my needs. I had to trust He would hear me. I ended up crying myself into a nap. When I woke up from my nap, I had a text from a family member who I don’t really have a close relationship with. The text was congratulating me on my degree and offering me a gift. The gift was either their old vehicle, which was still in good condition, if I needed one. Or $5000. I started crying as I read the text because I couldn’t believe that my prayer was not only heard, but it was answered and in ways that I didn’t expect. I replied thank you and that I would like to accept the money instead of the car. My family member had one stipulation; that they would send it to me in two parts. I would get the first half ($2500) immediately, and the second half would be the following month. Not only was I able to pay my rent for the next month, but I was able to pay my rent for the following month after that. This gave me time to focus on finding a job that would allow me to save some money. I started working as a food delivery driver with one of the apps. I was able to save what I earned because of the generosity of my family member and the goodness of God!”
In desperation, she prayed what she thought was a simple prayer, ‘God I need you.’ God answer her the way he answered Abraham. Her family member was the ram in the thicket (Genesis 22:13). Before Abraham sacrificed his son, he “lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.”
God is our Provider in all things and will sustain us. God is referred to by many names in the Bible, and one name is Jireh. In Genesis 22:14, Abraham named the mountain top he was on "The Lord Will Provide" after God provided a ram for sacrifice in place of his son, Isaac. In Hebrew, this is known as Jehovah-Jireh (the Lord will provide).