I Can! (series)

One hot summer day, sometime in late afternoon, I was involved in a precinct-wide man hunt for a man wanted in connection with several felonies; including homicide and drug trafficking or VCSA. (Violation of the controlled substance act.) We were in the north end of the 13th precinct searching for the man, because we received an anonymous tip that he was spotted there earlier in the day. This man was an extremely dangerous criminal and listed among Detroit’s “most wanted” by the homicide unit. 

Now, I want you to try and get the picture here; there must have been over 100 police officers from several different precincts and plain clothes divisions all in the same small space,maybe a 6 block area. We were conducting a house to house search and there was nothing but scout cars and cops as far as the eye could see. About 30 minutes into the operation, a young teenage girl walked up to me and asked, “Are you all looking for Baby Face Bobbi?” (Not his real name.) I said “Yes, we are.” And to my amazement, she said, “Well, he’s hiding in that garbage dumpster right over there.” My partner and I walked over to the dumpster and sure enough, underneath a bunch of debris, there was Baby Face Bobbi. We pulled him out of the dumpster and handcuffed him. I then told dispatch to alert the commander to call off the search because we had the man in custody. Then in front of a countless number of astonished and envious police officers, we paraded the wanted man back to our scout car. It was one of the best arrests of my entire police career and we recevied a departmental commendation for the arrest. 

There is not doubt in my mind that God favored me in that arrest. I mean what are the chances, out of all those police officers on the scene, a witness would come directly to me? Come on. This wasn’t astute or stellar police work, it was being in the right place at the right time - and God put me in that place. That day, (like many others) I was a recipient of God’s favor and provision.  

Now pretty much everyone knows the story of Abraham and Isaac recorded in Genesis 22. To test his obedience, God told Abraham to take his son, his only son, up to the mountain and offer him to the Lord as a burnt offering. Abraham obeyed the Lord, and when he and Isaac arrived at the place of sacrifice, Isaac said to his father, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the offering?” Immediately Abraham responded and said, “God will provide a lamb.” And sure enough, the bible tells us Abraham looked up and there in the thicket he saw a ram caught by the horns. So Abraham sacrificed the ram instead of his son; and Abraham called that place Jehovah Jireh, the Lord Will Provide. 

These days there are daily breaking news stories being broadcast and circulated around the globe. Different scenario’s have been presented and depending on who you choose to listen to, conflicting outcomes have been predicted. In light of the global pandemic, concerns are being expressed and many questions are being asked; Is the American economy going to recover? Will we ever go back to work? How long are we going to have to stay on lock down? When the country does open back up is there a chance I’m going to get sick? And what is the plan for coming up with a safe and effective vaccination that will prevent a second round of the virus? And many more...

And in the midst all that uncertainty, apprehension and fear; in my mind’s eye, I envision and hear the Genesis 22 exchange of a faith-filled man along with his courageous young son, saying “God will provide!” Regardless of what we go though, how hopeless the situation may seem, or how impossible the odds, we serve a God who has revealed himself to us as Jehovah Jireh, our provider. And He makes a way where there is no way! 

Isaiah 43:18-19

Forget the former things;

  do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!

  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

  and streams in the wasteland.

Matthew 6:26

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Joshua 1:9 

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Philippians 4:19 

And my God will meet (supply) all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:31

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?