Christian Songwriter's Network

Each night, in preparation for bed, I trade the shirt of the day for a simple, unattractive, and yet amazingly comfortable T-shirt. While over the years I've collected a wide variety of sleep shirts from which to choose, I know from experience that one specific option will afford me the most comfortable night of rest.

The other night as I slipped on this shirt I realized something really quite amazing not only in its simplicity, but in the fact that it was so obvious that I've never given it a moment of attention. One of the reasons this shirt is so comfortable is because it's made from cotton. Cotton, as is well known, is harvested from an otherwise uninteresting looking shrub and spun into thread and yarn that that is then used in the construction of comfortable, breathable clothing.

In Jeremiah 29:11 the Lord says "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". Sounds pretty comfy, doesn't it? Of course, the context of this passage has absolutely nothing to do with cotton, but it does tell us something important about God. He actively plans for us. He plans for our prosperity. He plans for our hope and our future. Therefore, doesn't it sound reasonable that He would execute those plans through as many different means as possible, even to the point of creating something as pedestrian as a fluffy weed?

But the blessing doesn't stop with creation. God empowers man with the knowledge needed to turn the fruit of this otherwise ordinary plant into an extraordinary fabric. With this in place, millions of people slip into comfortable clothing each day and go about their daily lives, completely unaware that the very clothes on their back are evidence of God's unending love and His amazing plans.

Something To Think About:

Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:11-12)