THE GREEN CANTEEN

THIS IS A TRIBUTE TO CURTIS DAVIS WHO WENT TO BE WITH OUR JEHOVAH-JIREH GOD THIS WEEK. CURTIS HAD JUST CELEBRATED HIS 47th RE-BIRTH DAY OF FOLLOWING JESUS. THAT “WALK THE WALK” JOURNEY BEGAN IN A YOUTH HOSTEL IN NIAGARA, CANADA, ON A MISSION TRIP TO BOSTON AND WASHINGTON, D.C.

THE GREEN CANTEEN FAITH INCIDENT OCCURRED TWO MONTHS LATER. I PRAY WE ALL LEARN AND LIVE THIS LESSON OF FAITH.

“Jehovah-Jireh”—the LORD will provide. This was not the first time that phrase was used on a mountaintop. But this one was an unforgettable reminder of that first Biblical utterance.

Was it a Mountaintop Miracle? Or was it just a lesson about how God provides for us every hour of every day in His special way?

It happened on a hot summertime day on Glorieta Mountain in New Mexico. The event was unforgettable. The lesson was priceless.

My witty wingman and I made a late-night trip to join the church youth group in New Mexico. I borrowed my little brother’s new baby blue Grand Am. The long overnight drive was sweet and fast. I awoke long enough to lean over to look at the speedometer. Jeff just smiled and said he was following a speeding semi-truck down the interstate.

As the sun came up, we stopped at a roadside diner for breakfast. Jeff pulled out the Olivia Newton-John eight-track tape that had been on replay through the night. It was literally too hot to touch.

The waitress was strangely friendly as she literally watched us eat our breakfast. The post-breakfast check-out was even stranger. There were samples of our food order on the messy check: a spot of egg, drop of gravy, speck of biscuit, and bacon grease. Jeff commented that the food-stained check might be necessary if the cashier were illiterate. Charge by the picture.

The third day at the Glorieta campgrounds included the challenge for four of our group to climb the local mountain. It was more of a long, steep walk than a climb. Jeff and young Mark struck out ahead, while Curtis Davis and I were more on an adventurous stroll.

Curtis was one of my favorites. He was a highschooler, member of the choir, and natural leader. He possessed a charming personality and inquisitive mind. Most importantly, he was a new follower of Jesus. Our walk would be pleasant and memorable.

Curtis was full of questions about life and the #1 Textbook. We paused to tee up some pinecones and launch them with our golf branches. I enjoyed the journey and the company. We climbed what we perceived as the last rocks to the mountaintop plateau, only to discover that we were barely halfway up the mountain. The peak had been hidden from view by our tree-lined path.

The sun beat down on us with its threatening heat. The mountain top towered over us, but it was not insurmountable. Curtis commented that we should have brought some water.

I replied with a nonchalant phrase from my treasure cove of responses to impending disaster or inept planning.

“Jehovah-Jireh.”

Curtis asked me to repeat what I said,

“Jehovah-Jireh—the LORD will provide. If we need water, I am sure God will provide some.”

I truly believe in the Lord who provides. I have experienced many occasions of awareness of His gracious intervention before and since this mountain-journey outburst.

Curtis was intrigued in the name and concept as he repeated the phrase, “Jehovah-Jireh. That would be a miracle!”

Let me set the stage for the miracle. First, I should have thought about bringing some drinking water. Second, my response was more casual than theological in its intent. It also crossed my mind that maybe the park rangers had some water fountain or spring at the top of the mountain.

We needed water. I said that the Lord would provide. The uttered phrase was a normal response for me. This was not a ‘Name it, Claim it’ kind of statement of faith. It was just something I say. I trust God.

However, I was not prepared for what lay ahead for this memorable mountain climb. The next thirty minutes ascending the mountain were filled with me telling the story from the #1 Textbook about the revelation of God’s name as “Jehovah-Jireh.”

The name “Jehovah-Jireh” appears in Genesis of the #1 Textbook when God miraculously provided a ram, hidden with its horn stuck in a thick bush, as a substitute for the sacrifice of Abraham’s son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah.

Abraham called that place. “Jehovah-Jireh” — the LORD will provide. The #1 Textbook records that the place would perpetually be described as, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

God had chosen Abraham to be the prototype for the future family of faith. His life lessons give us hope, not only from his steadfast trust in God, but also because of his frailty and failures on that journey to growing stronger in faith. He was far from perfect and not always trusting of God. He was often selfish and independent in his plans of action. He was fearful, impatient, and impulsive. But he became the friend of God (#1 Textbook).

That gives me hope.

God chose Abraham and gave Him great promises, which included divinely guaranteed family and land. Abraham believed God. That’s it! That is what this earthly life is about. Believe God. The most important commandment is to love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength…and to love others as yourself. Believe God and do it.

Believe God for who He is and what He promises. For Abraham and us, it is a journey, just like a walk up a mountain.

Abraham and his wife, Sarah, remained childless. They became too old to have a child. The Lord provided. It was a miracle. Isaac, the son of promise, was born. God provided a son when all hope was gone. All the earthly hopes of family and land were identified with Abraham’s son.

Then came the big test of faith, which is what pleases God (#1 Textbook). God told Abraham to take Isaac on a walk, up Mount Moriah. He was to sacrifice his son. I can only imagine the questions, anxiety, fears, and debate raging in Abraham’s mind. The #1 Textbook (Hebrews) states, “Abraham obeyed God, believing that God would somehow raise Isaac from the dead if that became necessary.”

God desires loving obedience, not human sacrifice. This journey of faith, like all our walks through life, carried a life lesson. The LORD will provide.

God uses the obedience of faith to open our eyes to His provision of new life. Isaac questioned his father about their act of worship. Abraham replied that the Lord would provide what was needed. God already had the provision ready. There was a ram, with its horns locked in the bush. It remained hidden from view until the moment it was most needed.

Abraham named the mountaintop, Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD will provide.

Curtis and I were on another mountain far away from the one walked by Abraham and Isaac. We were not far away from the same God as we talked about that first mountaintop miracle. I talked about the importance of trusting God in all things and shared a few examples of how the Lord had provided for me.

Faith feeds the thirsty soul, but it does not quench the desire for water. We paused our trek up the mountain at another plateau. We rested our weary bodies on a huge rock. Curtis stretched out on the rock with a sigh, “Jehovah-Jireh.”

Curtis expressed the hopes of both of us. Maybe there would be a source of water somewhere on this mountain. Curtis really believed that! I was just teaching a life lesson to a young man who would make a huge impact in the lives of many young people in the years to come. He did that all the way to the finish line.

What happened next? If it had been a movie, a bright light would have appeared with the sounds of angelic music. However, this was real. Only the sounds of silence. I looked across the path at the nearby bush. There was a green canteen underneath the bush.

A green canteen. Do you think it could be possible? No, it must have been discarded by a previous hiker. I walked over and picked up the green canteen and showed it to Curtis. I twisted the cap. The canteen was completely full of water…cold water!

I yelled out, “Jehovah-Jireh!” Curtis echoed the phrase. I handed the green canteen to Curtis. He took the first drink. His expression is forever recorded in my memory. I have never had a drink of cold water which tasted so refreshing. The mountain miracle made a lasting impact on both of us!

(Curtis shared a prayer when I told him about this coming story, “I hope it has HALF the effect on your audience that it had on ME! Even ONE TENTH will do! So blessed and thankful for God’s direction and instruction…and the green canteen still has ice cold water in it, right?!?”)

I do not know how (1) this green canteen (2) full of cold water (3) ended up under a bush (4) on the mountain (5) at exactly the spot we stopped (6) while we were discussing the “Jehovah-Jireh” story and (7) at the very moment Curtis said he believed God would provide us water.

How? That does not matter! It happened. God arranged all the circumstances for the green canteen to be there when we needed it. The Lord always provides what we need at the moment most needed.

It was an unforgettable experience for two young men. The Jehovah-Jireh green canteen, hidden under the mountain bush, has remained a keepsake on my bookshelf. It is a constant reminder that the LORD provides.

Provide—to supply something that is seen as needed. God sees the need and acts. The theological term is “the providence of God.” God is actively involved in giving us all we need.

GOD ALWAYS GIVES THE PERFECT SUPPLY AT THE PERFECT TIME. ALWAYS!

However, God is not our table waiter who can be ordered to satisfy our every desire. He does not work according to our timeline. Neither is He some cosmic slot machine where you gamble for the big bucks. He is not the god of Press Your Luck. Nor is He some heavenly handkerchief that you can pull out and put away according to your latest whim. Neither is God bound by whatever you Name and Claim. You do not and cannot control God.

We tend to think of our needs as some toy, trinket, or earthly trivial pursuit. We tend to place our hopes to supply our needs in stocks or upgrades. Sometimes in emergencies, we resort to prayer requests. As one woman in crisis lamented to my suggestion to pray, “Has it come to that?”

Most of us who are children of this same faith have some experiences where we recognize God provided a real need. It might have been a child, a car, or a cure from sickness. It could include the provision of a home, a job, or an ability.

In the first Jehovah-Jireh story in the #1 Textbook, the Lord’s provision was in the context of facing the loss of life. God sees the need for a substitute. That is also the context of God’s ultimate provision. We face the loss of life both earthly and eternally.

Jesus is God’s perfect and complete provision to our earthly and eternal needs. He is literally “Jehovah-Jireh,” the Lamb of God provided as our substitute sacrifice. Then God raised Jesus up from the dead because all our promises are in Him.

Trust God.

The lesson of God’s provision for Abraham is the same faith lesson taught to the Moses-led Israelites who miraculously crossed the Red Sea, only to find themselves in a desert wilderness without water. Amidst their complaints, God provided an abundance of water from a rock (#1 Textbook–Exodus). That’s right, a flood of water from a rock!

The water was an important spiritual lesson for life in the desert and on the mountain.

The people needed God, not water. Curtis and I needed God, not water. We all need God, not water. Our other needs are all wrapped up in our need for God, first and foremost. Learn that lesson well.

The Lord’s provision for our eternal well-being certainly includes all our earthy needs. Our God has promised to provide for all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (#1 Textbook—Philippians).

Do you trust God? How do you become personal friends with Jehovah-Jireh? We learn the LORD will provide, most often in connection to our faith being tested. Tests of faith come with thoughts of fear, anxiety, and impatience. (I have been there.)

The faith tests might be partnered with personal flaws, frailty, and failures. (I have been there.) Those are the moments that test us…and teach us.

Jesus told His first team of faith followers what they needed to pass on to us.

Do not be anxious or fearful about your life or about what you will eat and drink. Do not worry about your body’s health or clothing. Look at the birds in the air. They do not plant or harvest or store up things. The Lord feeds them.

Consider the flowers of the field. They do not work or have a clothing allowance. The greatest and wealthiest king of all time was never more gloriously clothed than they…You are of far more value (#1 Textbook–Matthew).

God cares for the smallest and weakest animals. God cares for the most beautiful and the least attractive inanimate things. You are of far more value to God than these. Trust God to provide for all your needs.

Open your eyes. Look at the cross. Jehovah-Jireh.

Since God did not spare even his own Son, but gave him up for us all, won’t he also surely give us everything else? (#1 Textbook–Romans). God did not hesitate to lay everything on the line to provide new life to us. God gave us Himself. He not only can provide but will gladly and freely provide everything else we need.

It does not matter whether you are wandering in a scorching desert wilderness or scaling a steep rocky mountain. The LORD will provide.

Do not fret or fear, my friend. Trust God. Go ahead. Keep walking. Love First and Love Most.

YOU MIGHT HAVE TO WAIT, BUT GOD”S PROVISION WILL NEVER BE LATE!

Jehovah-Jireh—the LORD will provide. Sometimes it looks like a Green Canteen.