God’s Provision

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Today's reading, titled God's Provision, was written by Po Fang-Chia. We trekked deeper and deeper into the forest, venturing farther and farther away from the village at Yunnan Province, China. After an hour or so, we heard the deafening roar of the water. Quickening our steps, we soon reached a clearing and were greeted by a beautiful view of a curtain of white water cascading over the gray rocks.

Spectacular! Our hiking companions, who lived in the village we had left an hour earlier, decided that we should have a picnic. Great idea, but where was the food?

We hadn't brought any. My friends disappeared into the surrounding forest and returned with an assortment of fruits and vegetables and even some fish. The Sui-Cheng-Chai looked strange with its purple flowers but tasted heavenly. I was reminded that creation declares God's extravagant provision. We can see proof of His generosity in all sorts of seed-bearing plants and trees with seed-bearing fruit. God has made and given us for food every seed-bearing plant and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. Do you sometimes find it hard to trust God to meet your needs? Why not take a walk in nature? Let what you see remind you of Jesus' assuring words from Matthew 6, Do not worry, saying, What shall we eat?

Or, What shall we drink? Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Genesis chapter 1 verses 11 through 13 and verses 29 through 30. Then God said, Let the land produce vegetation, seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. And it was so. The land produced vegetation, plants bearing seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

And there was evening, and there was morning the third day. Picking up at verse 29, Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth, and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food, and to all the beasts of the earth, and all the birds in the sky, and all the creatures that move along the ground, everything that has the breath of life in it. I give every green plant for food.

And it was so. Let's pray. Loving Father, thank you for creating a world full of wildlife and plants which provide such a marvelous feast for the eyes and for the body. You gave such beautiful things to sustain us, and we marvel at your beauty and creativity. Thank you for the gift of life. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.