There are a lot of Hebrew names for God, and I often forget the majority of them. But, Yahweh Yireh is one I always remember- The Lord Will Provide.
For those of you who don’t know, the price of World race contains many numbers, and a comma, which means lots of dollars! This price covers flights out of Atlanta, flights during the race, and the flight back to Atlanta, housing, food, etc. I haven’t felt overwhelmed by that number because I’ve seen God provide financially for my family before! Yahweh Yireh. However, what the total cost of World Race doesn’t cover is travel to Atlanta, spending money, vaccines, and gear. For some reason, the price of these things does overwhelm me, probably because I’m able to see the exact totals of each purchase. One of the most daunting tasks is making a list of the gear that is needed. Some of the main pieces of gear for a nine-month backpacking mission trip are the hiking backpack, day backpack, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, packing cubes, tent, airporter (basically a cover for your backpack), rain cover, and all the other little things that are easy to forget. As I was evaluating the approximate total cost of all of this gear, I quickly realized that these months of preparation would draw me so close to God, because I’d only end up with all of this gear by God’s miraculous, creative ways.
So that night, after making my beloved list of World Race needs, I prayed. I said, “Lord, you have so clearly called me to this, and I trust that you won’t abandon me now. I surrender my need to figure all of this out. Yahweh Yireh. I surrender this to you and I wait expectantly of how you will provide. I love you, Lord! Amen.” And then I peacefully fell asleep.
Y’all. The Lord works FAST! The VERY NEXT DAY, I was still at my school and I was getting a call from my sister, who was out to lunch with some friends nearby. Normally I would’ve called back when I wasn’t in school, but for some reason I felt like I needed to answer. I asked to be excused and stepped into the hallway.
“Hey, Deb! What’s up?”
“Dude, you’re not going to believe this. I’m out with my friends and our waitress came and I was randomly like, ‘Wow, you have some serious muscles!’ And she was like, ‘Haha, it’s from all these babies I hold on my mission trips!’ And so I said, ‘Oh, no way! Which countries have you been to?’ And she said, ‘Well, I just got back from this thing called World Race, so I’ve been to plenty of countries.’ So, I was like, ‘Omg! My sister is preparing for World Race right now!’ And Anna, guess what. She goes, ‘Any chance she still needs gear? I’ve been praying about someone to donate all of my gear to since I don’t need it anymore. I’d love to bless a future Racer.’ So, I told her that you do still need gear and I gave her your number! She wants to donate all of her stuff to you for FREE!“
I couldn’t even speak. I was a crying mess. I couldn’t believe that God would align for a stranger to provide me with what I needed; I could literally never plan that on my own! And I live in a small town, I’ve probably spoken with this waitress before and everything, but God didn’t open up the door to speak about World Race until it was in His timing to do so- the day after I surrendered it to Him. And I love how He did it through my sister. Yahweh Yireh!
“Deb, this is crazy… I literally prayed about this last night. Thank you so much for giving her my number, this is so huge! PRAISE GOD!”
And with that we hung up and I walked back into class with mascara smudged under my eyes and a really huge smile. And then I got to tell people about how God provided so THAT’S amazing, too!
A few hours later I was in contact with the waitress, Sarah, and we scheduled a day for me to come to the restaurant and pick up the gear. Praise, praise, praise!
When the day came that I was meeting up with Sarah, I walked in and she had her huge hiking backpack, completely filled and ready for me. She even took time to go through everything and show me what each item was- a tent, a sleeping bag liner, an airporter, a rain cover for the hiking backpack and for a day pack, a rain coat, outlet converters, and many of those other little things that are easy to forget. I was so overwhelmed, all I could do was listen and thank her and hug her! She was so joyful to bless me in this way and offered up her time to talk about the race and answer any of my questions.
I took everything home, emptied it all out and just began to cry. Hundreds of dollars worth of gear just sitting before me that I didn’t have to pay a single penny for. The Lord just dropped it in my path- Yahweh Yireh!
Writing this blog post has been such a needed reminder for me. It’s easy to forget the things God has done for us, even when they are huge things like that! I had a breakdown last night as I realized I’d soon have to schedule appointments for vaccines that I don’t have the cash to pay for (some aren’t covered by insurance, resulting in approx. $1,200 out of pocket), and recognizing that I’ll have to save about $1,400 to take with me on the field, and save up for the few remaining pieces of gear and flights to and from Atlanta. To my small, human mind, this is an extremely intimidating task. But, clearly God is calling me to World Race, clearly He is unstoppable and creative, and clearly He doesn’t call us into something and then ditch us to figure it out on our own. As my pastor says, “God’s will, God’s bill!” Haha, seriously though! He is walking before me and behind me, and I will not fear. Yahweh Yireh.
I pray that you are encouraged- if you’re a future racer who is overwhelmed with the price of everything, or if you aren’t a racer but you are overwhelmed with feeling like you can’t afford/do something on your own, give it to the Lord. He is so creative and when He wants us to do something or go somewhere, He always provides the way.
Lord, thank you for how you ordain each and every moment of this life. Even in my doubt and fear, you are patient and overflowing with love for me. Thank you for calling me into this adventure and for blessing me through this preparation process. You are such a good Daddy! Thank you for Sarah and for giving her a servant’s heart, leading her to donate all of her gear to me that she could’ve sold and earned money for. God, I pray blessings over her and that she continues to know you more. Lord, I pray over the rest of my World Race expenses. I surrender these feelings of being overwhelmed and instead I look forward with joy and anticipation for what you have planned. I trust you, Jesus! Yahweh Yireh! Amen.
God bless!
Anna <3
P.S.
The Lord has called me to start a youtube channel, so please subscribe if you’re interested in video updates on my World Race experience!
