14 [l]He causes the grass to grow for the [m]cattle,
And vegetation for the [n]labor of man,
So that [o]he may bring forth [p]food from the earth,
15 And wine which makes man’s heart glad,
So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
And [q]food which sustains man’s heart.
16 The trees of the Lord [r]drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the birds build their nests,
And the stork, whose home is the [s]fir trees.18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
The cliffs are a refuge for the [t]shephanim.
19 He made the moon for the seasons;
The sun knows the place of its setting.
20 You appoint darkness and it becomes night,
In which all the beasts of the forest [u]prowl about.
21 The young lions roar after their prey
[v]And seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises they withdraw
And lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes forth to his work
And to his labor until evening.24 O Lord, how many are Your works!
[w]In wisdom You have made them all;
The earth is full of Your [x]possessions.
25 [y]There is the sea, great and [z]broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Animals both small and great.
26 There the ships move along,
And [aa]Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it.
The psalm shifts from the power and wonders of water to the animals of the earth (and air and sea). It’s incredible to think of all the intricacies of the animal kingdom, and even the plants that they depend upon. Some folks would have us believe that is all an accident, but it’s far easier to believe it was done on purpose.
Especially because so many creatures depend upon one another, it is impossible for them to be mere accidents. And as we know, or if not, I hope you come to realize, nothing is impossible for God. Even the fact that we can eat plants is somewhat amazing. They have nutrition which our body actually has instructions to handle, and that’s no small feat. Let alone the millions of bacteria in our bodies that help us in digesting those plants, we are each a walking miracle.
Using the contrast that Jesus would describe to his followers in Matthew 6, if God has put so much care and thought into His creation, how much more thought has He put into your creation? Are you not worth more than a flower, or a tadpole, or a skunk? Now, I’m sure God got quite a kick out of making all these things, but none so much as when He first made man and woman.
All that to say, if skunks were no accident, if chickens feeding on insects and those feeding on plants, which find their sustenance in the very earth was no accident–then neither are you, not by a long stretch. Every part of your being is on purpose, even the parts you don’t like. Even further, every part of your personality, your talents, and even your weaknesses, they are all on purpose.
Your strengths, to help others, and your weakness, to make you depend upon others, and especially to depend upon our Creator. Your life is not an accident, so stop living like it, floating along and being tossed by the current every which way. Live life on purpose, with intentionality, for His purpose and the plan that He already has for you.