Fresh Green

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
     Psalm 23:2

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Green Pastures in the Madera County foothills

San Luis Reservoir-Still Waters in California

It has been wonderful for me to experience springtime in California this year.  It has been a long time since I've had the opportunity to go for walks among the lush green hillsides.  At times, it has been a bit dangerous--I told Ingrid that being here at this time of year makes me a bit reluctant to leave.  (It seems easier to leave in the summer when it is hot and everything is brown, or in winter when it is foggy and cold.)

When I walk among the wildflowers and green grass, I think of Psalm 23.  I particularly like the Thai version, where it says "fresh green fields".  David says that God, the shepherd, leads him to the green pastures. The sheep don't have to know where the lush pastures are as long as God does.

I, and I think also many North Americans, have a tendency to want to be in control.  To provide for myself.  To know where my next meal is coming from.  To know what our future looks like.

God, on the other hand, wants us to trust Him to lead us to green pastures, even if we have to pass through things like the valley of the shadow of death to get there.

Lately, I've been reading through Exodus and Numbers.  Here we have perhaps a couple million people hanging out at Mount Sinai for a year.  That is not a lush place.  How do you feed and water all those people? What will their livestock have to eat and drink?  This was not a problem for God.

The exact location of Mount Sinai is disputed, but it's not very lush
https://committeeforculturalpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/lossy-page1-800px-Mount_Sinai-110709_005.tif.jpg

     That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. 
     The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. And Moses told them, “It is the food the LORD has given you to eat. 
     Exodus 16:13-15 (NLT)

God has amazing ways of providing for His people.

This week we have been on the road visiting people.  Our travels took us north through California into Oregon.  As we approached the city of Redding, we could see Mount Shasta, poking its white, snowy head into the sky.  The ingenuity of engineers has enabled us humans to store the snow as it melts, and send it all the way to Southern California, several hundreds of miles away.  Some is used for agriculture.  Some is for domestic use.  So when I see the snow, I think of how God is faithfully providing for mankind.

Mount Shasta rises above Redding, California

One of the names of God given in scripture is is Yahweh-Yireh--God Provides.  It is a name given to God by Abraham, after God provided an alternate sacrifice to Isaac (Genesis 22:14)

God provides for us.

How has God provided for you today?

Put It In Your Pocket

It was probably the year 1992. We had taken a trip in our Ford F-150 to visit one of the Baptist Haiti Mission churches near St Michel de L' Atalaye, Haiti. Some people there were wanting some advice about capping a spring.

While I was I the area, I stopped at an open market.A woman was selling what appeared to be large seeds. I asked what they were, but the name, kakòn, meant nothing to me. I asked what they were for, and she told me they were for treating hemorrhoids. Intrigued, I asked, “how do they work?” She replied, “you carry them around in your pants pocket.

If you don’t ask, you never know.

I bought a seed from the woman and I probably still have it in storage in California.

This past week, Ingrid and I went bike riding down a track through a forest.

Cycling in the forest

Ingrid spotted the remnants of a very large bean pod lying on the ground. I busted a piece open, and there it was—the magical method for treating hemorrhoids.

I don't know if they really cure hemorrhoids or not, but if you swallow this thing, you might get them.

I have since found out that the bean is known as “snuffbox bean” or "sea bean" (Entada phaseoloides). Apparently, the beans were used for toting around one’s stash of snuff in days of yore.

Snuffbox bean pod, high up in a tree--about 2 feet long

Some of the tribal peoples of Northern Thailand use the large seeds for games or for medicinal purposes.

I've never tested the hemorrhoids treatment (and I hope I never have to want to), so I can't say for certain that it doesn't work.  But field of ethnobotany (the study of how indigenous people use the plants around them) has always fascinated me.  God gave us an amazing variety plant resources for us to use for food, tools, medicine and other things.  How people even came to know the beneficial properties of plants is amazing.  And it saddens me when I see these plants lost to needless destruction.  Many plants may have properties which can be used in the world of medicine, but if those plants become extinct, the resources are lost.

Recently, a verse in Revelation 22 caught my attention for the first time.  The Tree of Life, we read in Revelation 22:2, has leaves that are used "for the healing of the nations."  What an interesting picture.  The old world is gone and there is a new heaven and a new earth.  But there is still water and there are still trees that contain healthful benefits for mankind.  (I'm not sure why the nations will still need healing in New Earth but I'm sure it's related to a metaphorical aspect to this passage.)

From the very beginning, God gave us plants for our health and well-being (Genesis 1:29, 30).  And in the New Earth, He does the same.

Praise God for the amazing way he provides for us.