Giving Strength

You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for people to use. You allow them to produce food from the earth—wine to make them glad, olive oil to soothe their skin, and bread to give them strength.

Psalm 104:14-15

MICHELLE SIGHED AS she sent her husband to the store again. Sure, she’d thought of the big things before the baby came home—the crib, the car seat, and the diapers.

But she’d never stopped to realize that it would be handy to have more than one cute set of sheets for the crib—one to put on it while the dirty one was in the laundry. Somehow, she’d forgotten that she might need some diaper-rash ointment. And she never thought about needing an aspirator until her baby got sick. She didn’t even know how to use a humidifier, let alone realize her baby might need one. Then it was teething gel. Soon her husband knew the layout of the baby and health aisles at the store better than he knew the halls in his office building!

Taking care of a person’s health and well-being takes a lot of work. Today’s Scripture verses point out how God has thought of everything his people need. He knew we’d need food, thus he created plants and animals. And the animals would need to eat, to grow healthy and tasty for us, thus grass. He put some greens on the earth to maintain our diets and made the earth able to produce the food we’d need.

God didn’t leave it at keeping our stomachs full. He thought about our happiness, our comfort, and our strength.

And he’s still preparing for our health and well-being. Let’s rest in the promise that he will take care of us physically and emotionally—as well as spiritually!