While driving around today, something struck me when I saw some bamboo growing in someone’s yard. I had never thought about it before, but bamboo leaves remain during the winter, where most of all of the other trees and plants where I live shed their leaves during the cold months of the year. In other words, bamboo is not “deciduous,” so it must then be considered to be classified as “evergreen,” no? As interesting as this may or may not be, something else struck me… how God provides for His creation.

The Panda

According to World Wide Fund for Nature, Panda bears almost exclusively eat bamboo. Also, according to How Stuff Works, their natural habitat is located in a part of the world where there are seasons, and they do not hibernate as most other bears commonly do. This means that the only way that pandas could endure in the wild would be if their food supply remained consistent year round; meaning, if bamboo shed its leaves during the winter, panda bears would never survive. According to Bamboo Botanicals such is the case regarding bamboo. Depending on the species of bamboo, some are deciduous and some are evergreen. Therefore, as long as the pandas have access to the evergreen varieties of bamboo during the cold months of the year, they will survive.

Kinds

The organizations underlined above can be clicked on to visit their websites regarding the facts referenced. It’s important to note that several of them credit evolution as being the cause of the panda’s ability and need to just about exclusively eat bamboo. However, scripture tells us something different. It says that all of God’s creatures reproduce according to their own kind (how they were originally created), not evolution…

Genesis 1:24-25 (HCSB)
Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

This means that God, because He designed the panda to live off of bamboo almost exclusively, must then also design the panda’s main source of provision to be available year round, regardless of the season. In other words, for pandas to survive, bamboo must then be of the evergreen type of plant so that it will continue to produce its leaves year round.

God’s Provision

Again, because God’s creatures can only be what they were originally made to be, they then must depend on their Maker to provide the means by which they can survive and reproduce. The Bible gives us examples of this truth…

Psalms 104:10-13 (HCSB)
He causes the springs to gush into the valleys;
they flow between the mountains.
They supply water for every wild beast;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
The birds of the sky live beside the springs;
they sing among the foliage.
He waters the mountains from His palace;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of Your labor.

Psalms 104:21 (HCSB)
The young lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.

God even touched on this point when He rhetorically questioned Job…

Job 38:39-41 (HCSB)
Can you hunt prey for a lioness
or satisfy the appetite of young lions
when they crouch in their dens
and lie in wait within their lairs?
Who provides the raven’s food
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?

God’s provision is not only supplied to the creatures, but it is also supplied to all of mankind…

Psalms 104:14-15 (HCSB)
He causes grass to grow for the livestock
and provides crops for man to cultivate,
producing food from the earth,
wine that makes man’s heart glad —
making his face shine with oil —
and bread that sustains man’s heart.

The New Covenant People

But, when His provision comes to His special, New Covenant people, it is not only the physical needs which God provides for them. For this unique group, God’s provision goes way beyond anything that they could have ever possibly imagined; because according to the psalmist, they remain sustained by Him forever.

Here’s Psalm 104 in its entirety…

Psalms 104 (HCSB)
My soul, praise Yahweh!
Lord my God, You are very great;
You are clothed with majesty and splendor.
He wraps Himself in light as if it were a robe,
spreading out the sky like a canopy,
laying the beams of His palace
on the waters above,
making the clouds His chariot,
walking on the wings of the wind,
and making the winds His messengers,
flames of fire His servants.
He established the earth on its foundations;
it will never be shaken.
You covered it with the deep
as if it were a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
At Your rebuke the waters fled;
at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away —
mountains rose and valleys sank —
to the place You established for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross;
they will never cover the earth again.
He causes the springs to gush into the valleys;
they flow between the mountains.
They supply water for every wild beast;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
The birds of the sky live beside the springs;
they sing among the foliage.
He waters the mountains from His palace;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of Your labor.
He causes grass to grow for the livestock
and provides crops for man to cultivate,
producing food from the earth,
wine that makes man’s heart glad —
making his face shine with oil —
and bread that sustains man’s heart.
The trees of the Lord flourish,
the cedars of Lebanon that He planted.
There the birds make their nests;
the stork makes its home in the pine trees.
The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the cliffs are a refuge for hyraxes.
He made the moon to mark the festivals;
the sun knows when to set.
You bring darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals stir.
The young lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
The sun rises; they go back
and lie down in their dens.
Man goes out to his work
and to his labor until evening.
How countless are Your works, Lord!
In wisdom You have made them all;
the earth is full of Your creatures.,
Here is the sea, vast and wide,
teeming with creatures beyond number —
living things both large and small.
There the ships move about,
and Leviathan, which You formed to play there.
All of them wait for You
to give them their food at the right time.
When You give it to them,
they gather it;
when You open Your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
When You hide Your face,
they are terrified;
when You take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
When You send Your breath,
they are created,
and You renew the face of the earth.
May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in His works.
He looks at the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the mountains,
and they pour out smoke.
I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to Him;
I will rejoice in the Lord.
May sinners vanish from the earth
and wicked people be no more.
My soul, praise Yahweh!
Hallelujah!

Godspeed, to the brethren!

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