Jehovah-Jireh
The Lord Provides. This post is very belated, but definitely worthy of the throwback. This is the testimony, the meaning, the purpose behind the Jehovah-Jirah painting in Colombia. Sadly the tight space where the main painting is located kept me from being able to take good photographs. The painting itself though is fully accessible to those it was intended for, and I have to remind myself that that’s what matters most. I wish you could all see it in its fullness. I wish that I could look back at pictures and see it in its fullness myself, but as it is, these partial glimpses will have to do. =]
The main painting at the top of Santa Cecilia is a combination story taken from 1 kings 17 and 2 kings 4, about Elijah and Elisha’s widow’s with oil. [online passages linked at the bottom of the post] As I prayed over my painting for oasis, God made it clear to me that these stories and the name Jehovah-Jireh were the subjects I needed to paint about. As usual, God revealed the significance of the painting to me, piece by piece, little by little, up until my very last day working up on this mountain in Bogotá.
This painting is the same as the others this year, as it is a flag of identity for this ministry, a marker of what God is doing there. The Lord provides for the single mother and gives life and freedom to her children. He is using this ministry and these people at Oasis to provide for the needs of the mothers on the mountain, and to breath life into their children.
In Genesis where God is first referred to as Jehovah-Jireh, the passage reads, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided”. [ Genesis 22:14 ]
On this impoverished mountain that overlooks the capital of Colombia, the Lord will provide. Though overlooked by most, the mothers striving to provide for their children here are not overlooked by the great Jehovah-Jirah. He hears them. He sees them. He cares for them. He will breath life into their children. He is husband, father, protector and love.
I cannot possibly express how much I adored this ministry, these people and this culture. I fell in love with Colombia. In my time at Oasis, my soul was revived. I was provided for in all my needs and wholly refreshed in my purpose and mission.
If you’d like to learn more about Oasis, the kids there, and the heart behind their mission, follow this link to visit their page. http://incalink.org/ministries/oasis/