He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. (Psalms 147:8-11)
Do you know where your food comes from? These verses and many others throughout the Bible clearly show us that God our Creator is the one who creates and supplies food to us. All food originates from reproducing plant life – life that God created. It takes water, air and sunlight for plants to grow, elements that God also created and regulates. The animals that become meat for our food are dependent on this same plant life, air, water, and sunlight. So as the verses above clearly state, God constantly sustains us by providing the food we need.
A friend of mine was recently recalling a dinner they had with someone who was visiting the United States from another country for the first time. When they sat down for dinner, the visitor asked, “Where did this food come from?” They replied with the name of a grocery store that was in their neighborhood. The visitor gave a puzzled look and tried to probe further to find out where and by whom the food had actually been produced, such as the region of the US and type of farm. He was surprised when his hosts could not answer such a basic question! Most people in the US likewise could not answer a question like this, because they can only trace their food back to the store they bought it from. From there it could have come from just about anywhere around the world. Eating all our food from unknown sources is a recent development in our history, however. Even the modern grocery store, which has replaced the public market, the town butcher, the daily farm deliveries, etc. - is a modern development in our history post World War II.
When Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States about 48% of the population was involved in agriculture and feeding the other half of the country. Today, less than 2% of the US population is involved in agriculture and feeding the other 98%! Do you know who these 2% are? Do you trust them to provide healthy food for you and your family? Do they understand that all food comes from God – do they even believe in God? Or do they see food as a commodity, part of the evolutionary process, a business in which to earn a profit? Do you trust the government to protect you from dangerous food that could harm you instead of nourish you? Most of us do, and without even giving it a second thought. We put our trust in the stores that provide the food, and the companies that supply it to the stores, and we believe that the government is watching out for us to make sure what we are eating is safe and healthy.
But these verses from Psalm 145 and 147 make it clear that we are to trust in God our Creator to supply our food and nourish us: His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. The strength of a horse or the strength of a man, both of which are created by God, can accomplish much in food production, as can man-made machinery in the post-industrial age. But to trust in our own strength and ability to produce food is a misguided faith. Without air, water, and sunshine – elements that man cannot create, our strength and technology are of no use. Make no mistake – God is in control, and he can withhold his blessings through drought, storms, and many other “natural” or even man-made disasters that can render our strength and technology worthless. God takes no pleasure in those who trust in themselves, or in the strength of their technology. He takes pleasure in “those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”
So if you are not producing your own food, allowing God to bless you directly by trusting in his steadfast love, you have to enter into agreement with others to produce the food on your behalf. You make this agreement every time you spend your money on food. Do the people and companies that you hire to supply your food understand that food is a blessing from our loving God? Or do they believe in the evolution foundation and trust in the strength and technology of man? The answer is not so easy to know sometimes, because the food might start out being produced by farmers who might believe and understand that they are dependent upon God, but then the food gets passed on to other producers who alter and “improve” upon it along the way before it ends up in a store somewhere where you can purchase it.
It is no surprise that farmer’s markets have become increasingly more popular over the past several years. More and more people want to know where their food comes from, and to buy it in as close to its original, fresh condition as possible. Many communities today could be mostly sustained by local food sources, but people choose instead to go the more convenient and cheap route and put their faith in mass-produced industrialized foods instead. But if you are uncomfortable about the fact that so few people in the US today supply the food chain to us, there is only one thing you can do about it. Enter into other agreements with your food purchases, and hire the people you want to supply your food. It is the only way we will ever get more small-scale and in many cases family-based producers back into food production. Do your research and find ways to support those who are concerned about the quality of the food they produce, and not just the quantity and profit. It will take some extra effort on your part, but who do you trust for your food? If you trust in the major industrial suppliers in the market today, what will you do if you go to the store and the shelves are bare because their technology has failed? His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
More on this in future articles....
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