Jehovah - Jireh. The God who Sees and Sees to it

I want relief from tension. But where from? Maybe in Jehovah – Jireh. The God who sees and provides in the cognitive dissonance of struggle.

I want answers. Easy to find answers.

But maybe what I really want is for the tension I am in to be seen and for a kind of ‘seeing to it’ that the tension is relieved.

Often when I am in a soul talk conversation with someone, I can feel the tension.

Soul Talk is the language people speak
when the life in them
meets the need in others. Larry Crabb

They have a question. A place of internal struggle.

It’s like they are holding their arms in the air, and the holding of the weight is getting tired and heavy.

There is tension, and it takes energy to hold those arms up.

Tying energy.

Energy that is full of both anxiety and depression

Try it. Hold your arms up in the air for a while, and you will soon feel tired and strained.

People carry tensions.

One outcome of a good soul talk conversation is that the soul is ‘seen’ and there is a ‘seeing to it’. That a providence is found.

I was talking with my physiotherapist yesterday while she worked on my arm. I felt a nudge to thank her for all the years of training she had done. Also for the ongoing training and study. For the commitment to her clients, and for taking the risk of going into business.

I asked her how she felt after I had given her my thanks.

She said she felt ‘seen.’

Someone ‘see’s’ me.

‘Sees’ the struggle and ‘see’s to it’ that some act of providence is given.

Abraham and Cognitive Dissonance

One of the most profoundly disturbing stories in the Bible is that of Abraham and the command to sacrifice Isaac.

The full story is found in Genesis 22:1-14

God asks Abraham to kill his son Issac.

Let’s call it what it is.

Child abuse. Murder.

It’s the abuse of power. A father over a son.

In the culture that Abraham was living in, the dominant religion was the religion of Baal. Child sacrifice was a practice they performed.

It must have been a time of incredible cognitive dissonance for Abraham.

Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort experienced when holding two or more conflicting beliefs, ideas, or values.

Abraham would have held the tension between

Being told by God to kill his son ________ knowing God provided a son in his old age
Being told by God to perform child sacrifice _______ knowing God completely thought this an abomination

There may well have been other tensions creating deep anxiety within himself.

What would Sarah say!

The Sacrifice of Isaac

Providence brought me to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, where I viewed the Sacrifice of Isaac by Caravaggio.

This 1.350 x 1.040 metre masterpiece feels dark. It has the drama and the tension of an act of horror, but then a providential relief.

Caravaggio captures the emotion of ‘seeing’ and ‘seeing to it’.

Abraham’s eyes see the angel.
Angel eyes see Abraham
Isaac’s eyes are full of terror
The ram’s eyes in complicit obedience

Its tension and release.

To see a close-up video of the masterpiece, watch the video. Note the eyes and the realistic texture of the painting. Commentary is in Italian.

I have a print of this masterpiece on my wall.

It’s not nice, or comfortable.

It’s terrifying in faith, complexity, and mystery. I see it every day, and I don’t think I will ever fully grasp the mystery of the story.

It’s a story of providence.

Jehovah Jireh.

Immediately after the release of tension. Directly after the unforeseen provision, Abraham names the place.

So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord will provide’ [Jehovah Jireh]; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’ [ he shall be seen] Genesis 22:14

Digging into the Hebrew of this passage, we find some interesting words and meanings.

This Hebrew word of Jireh (יִרְאֶ֑ה yir·’eh) means ‘to see’

BibleHub gives further explanation.

Overview
Raah: see, saw, seen. Spans the full range of “seeing” in Scripture, from the simplest act of looking to the highest revelatory vision. Its frequency (about 1, 306 times) makes it a foundational thread binding narrative, law, poetry, and prophecy into a unified testimony of God’s knowledge and self-disclosure.

Provision: ‘YHWH Yireh’

Because to “see” also means to “see to it,” the mount of Abraham’s test is named “The Lord Will Provide” (Genesis 22:14). The verb thus bridges sight and supply, promising that God foresees and furnishes all that covenant life requires (Deuteronomy 11:12). BibleHub

God ‘sees’ and ‘sees to it’

There is an awareness of a need and a provision for meeting that need.

Hence, Abraham sets up a name post. ‘The Lord Will Provide’. ‘The Lord who sees and sees to it’

Sight and supply.

Seeing is provision

God ‘sees’ Abraham’s devotion in the midst of cognitive dissonance and ‘sees to it’ that the need is supplied. The relief of tension.

Abraham ‘sees’ God’s call to faith and ‘sees to it’ being met.

I see you, Abraham.
Abraham, you see me.
We see each other.

In this ‘seeing’ of each other, faith and trust grow. Cognitive dissonance becomes cognitive harmony.

In the staring into each other’s eyes, nothing else matters. It’s unflinching, unwavering, and undistracted.

Focus is everything, and providence gives relief of tension

The God who sees and provides.

By faith we ‘see’ God ‘seeing to it’.

I see you

I fall into their gaze
They fall into mine
Two lovers’ eyes are locked
Lost in space and time

I see you
You see me
Never to fall adrift of lovers’ bliss
In each other, we are free

I see to it
To provide a gift ahead
A surprise awaits for you
A sacrificial ram instead

I await your response
How you will see me
The providence provided
A worship name for me

Open your eyes
Look steadily into mine
Galaxies will explode
Living waters divine

Come take a swim
Come count the stars above
Doubt will run away
Faith grows within our love

I see you
You see me
Let’s dance a little dance
For the world to see

Barry Pearman

Quotes to consider

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. We have to try to cure our faults by attention and not by will. Simone Weil.
Francis [Francis of Assisi] taught us, therefore, that the antidote to confusion and paralysis is always a return to simplicity, to what is actually right in front of us, to the nakedly obvious. Richard Rohr
God meets us where we are, not where we pretend to be or wish we were. My job is to pay attention to where I am. When I enter my reality (my red-dot truth), He brings His reality, His truth, into mine. Truth is a two-way street. When I avoid my truth, I nod politely, and I might even smile or say amen when I hear His. But not much happens. God’s truth does not set free a pretending or hiding heart. Larry Crabb
The Providence of God is like Hebrew words – it can be read only backwards. John Flavel
One word of God can do more than ten thousand words of men to relieve a distressed soul. John Flavel
Two things destroy the peace and tranquility of our lives; our bewailing past disappointments, or fearing future ones. John Flavel

Questions to answer

What examples of cognitive dissonance — holding two or more conflicting beliefs, ideas, or values, can you think of in your life at this moment? How much energy do they take from you?
Look at the painting by Caravaggio. Where does the finger of the Angel point?
What’s it like being fully seen? Why that feeling?

Formation exercise

In cognitive dissonance, we hold two or more conflicting beliefs, ideas, or values. Its tension, and we are trying to bring it to peace. What if there were a third option as such? What if that option completely surprised you as a gift of providence? What if it were a ram? ‘Didn’t see that coming’.
Consider some times when you were surprised at a need being met in ways completely surprising to you. Email me about this.