A World of Provision 丰富的供应

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Dexu Xia

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Apr 21, 2020, 12:33:02 AM4/21/20

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A World of Provision

There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number. Psalm 104:25

It’s 2 a.m. when Nadia, a farmer of sea cucumbers, walks into a roped-off pen in the ocean shallows near her Madagascar village to harvest her “crop.” The early hour doesn’t bother her. “Life was very hard before I started farming,” she says. “I didn’t have any source of income.” Now, as a member of a marine-protection program called Velondriake, meaning “to live with the sea,” Nadia sees her income growing and stabilizing. “We thank God that this project appeared,” she adds.

It appeared in large part because God’s creation provided what their project needs—a natural supply of sea life. In praise of our providing God, the psalmist wrote, “He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate” (Psalm 104:14). As well, “there is the sea . . . teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small” (v. 25).

It’s a wonder, indeed, how God’s wondrous creation also provides for us. The humble sea cucumber, for example, helps form a healthy marine food chain. Careful harvesting of sea cucumbers, in turn, grants Nadia and her neighbors a living wage.

Nothing is random in God’s creation. He uses it all for His glory and our good. Thus, “I will sing to the Lord all my life,” says the psalmist (v. 33). We too can praise Him today as we ponder all that He provides.

丰富的供应

那里有海，又大又广；其中有无数的动物。—诗篇104篇25节

凌晨两点，在马达加斯加的某个村落里，以养殖海参为业的娜娜，走到附近的海洋浅滩上，在一个用绳子圈起的围栏内采收她的“作物”。要清早起床工作，对娜娜而言并不是问题。她说：“在我开始养殖海参之前，生活非常艰难。因为我没有任何收入来源。”现在，作为一名海洋保护计划的成员，娜娜有了稳定且持续增加的收入。她补充说：“我们为了这个计划而感谢上帝。”

其实，这个海参养殖计划能成功，主要是因为上帝创造了海洋生物，提供了养殖所需的天然条件。难怪诗人在赞美那位供应我们的上帝时写道：“祂使草生长，给六畜吃，使菜蔬发长，供给人用”（诗篇104篇14节）。不仅如此，“那里有海，……其中有无数的动物，大小活物都有”（25节）。

同样地，上帝也奇妙地创造了万物供应我们的需要。例如，在海洋食物链中不起眼的海参也是上帝的供应，只要细心养殖与适度地采收海参，娜娜和她的邻居便能赚取生活费。

上帝所创造的万物都有其目的，祂会藉由万物使祂自己得荣耀，并使我们得益处。因此，诗人说：“我要一生向耶和华唱诗”（33节）。今天当我们仔细思想祂所供应的一切时，也当赞美祂。

创造万物的上帝，我们看到祢奇妙的创造，以及祢供应我们的方式，就肃然起敬。