The God Who Goes Before Us: A Reflection On Provision

Each year around this time, many of us return to familiar Scripture passages. We read them because the Christmas season calls for it, and because tradition itself can be grounding. Matthew chapter 2, the story of the Wise Men, is one of those passages. I’ve read it most years of my adult life. But this year, something different stood out.

As Christ followers, our primary focus is, and always should be, this: God came to earth in the form of a baby. Jesus was and is the provision humanity desperately needed. He came to save us from our sins, to teach us how to live, and to model what Kingdom living truly looks like. Jesus Himself is the gift.

But this year, my attention lingered on the Wise Men.

The Wise Men of Matthew 2 believed in miracles. They believed in the prophetic. They believed that God still spoke and still moved in tangible ways. That kind of faith feels rare in our modern world and if we aren’t careful, we can slowly begin trusting more in strategy, budgets, metrics, and man in general rather than in God Himself.

In contrast, these men were willing to leave Herod’s palace, a place of power and comfort, and travel toward uncertainty to pay tribute to a newborn King. They didn’t follow a map; they followed a star. They trusted God’s leading without having the full picture.

In that culture, you never approached a king empty-handed. To do so would have been unthinkable, even dishonoring. When leaders or officials visited a king, they brought gifts to show respect and acknowledge his authority. These were not casual offerings; they were intentional, costly, and often represented the very best of what a nation or household possessed.

The Wise Men understood this. When they came to Jesus, the newborn king, they brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These were not obligatory trinkets or convenient gestures. They were extravagant gifts, valuable, rare, and deeply intentional gifts that were fit for a king, even one lying in a manger. Abundance is the word that comes to mind.

Here’s the part that struck me most as I pondered this story.

Shortly after the Wise Men’s visit, Joseph was warned in a dream that his family needed to flee to Egypt. They were told to leave everything they knew, their community, their support system, their safety and travel to a land where they knew no one and had no clear plan. But before that warning ever came, God had already provided.

The gold would fund their journey and sustain them during years of living in a foreign land. The frankincense and myrrh, often overlooked beyond their symbolism, were life-sustaining substances. They carried medicinal properties: antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory. In a time without modern medicine, these were invaluable resources for survival.

What dawned on me was that God didn’t wait for the crisis to occur before He supplied what would be needed. He provided exceedingly abundantly in advance. And it got me thinking, how has He done this for me in the past?

A Word for Directors

As pregnancy center leaders, this truth matters deeply. We operate in spaces of uncertainty every day. Funding shifts. Cultural and political pressures intensify. Staff turns over. Client needs evolve. Sometimes we don’t even know what challenge is coming next, only that leadership requires us to stay ready.

The story of the Wise Men reminds us that God often provides before we recognize the need. As we close out this year and step into a new one, it’s worth pausing to ask ourselves a few honest questions:

• Where have I seen God provide this year? Maybe even in ways that felt abundant or unexpected?

• Were there resources, relationships, ideas, or opportunities that arrived before I understood why I needed them?

• If nothing immediately comes to mind, what provision am I currently waiting for?

• And maybe the most important question: Do I have my eyes open to how God may already be providing in a quiet, faithful way in preparation for what is to come?

  
  

I hope that this lands on your heart the way it has in mine and stirs a deep sense of gratitude for God’s provision and perfect timing. And I pray that this focus strengthens your trust in a God who goes before us.

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you: He will never leave you or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:8