“God is” (6)

“You give life to everything.”

Ne 9:6 NIV

Let’s look at another miracle of God’s creative genius: the nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen is extremely inert—if it wasn’t we’d all be poisoned by different forms of nitrous combinations. However, because of its inertness, it’s impossible for us to get nitrogen to combine naturally with other things. But it’s definitely needed for plants in the ground, so what provision does God make for getting it out of the air and into the soil? Lightning! A hundred thousand lightning bolts strike our planet daily, creating a hundred million tons of usable nitrogen plant food in the soil every year. Forty miles up, there’s a thin layer of ozone. If compressed it would be only a quarter of an inch thick, yet without it life wouldn’t be sustainable. Eight killer rays continually fall on our planet from the sun; without ozone we’d be burned, blinded, or boiled. The ultraviolet rays come in two forms: longer rays, which are deadly and are screened out, and shorter rays, which are necessary for life on earth and are administered through the ozone layer. Furthermore, the most deadly of these rays are allowed through the ozone layer in a very limited amount, just enough to kill the green algae which otherwise could grow to fill the lakes, rivers, and oceans of the world. No doubt about it, we are totally dependent on God’s goodness. That’s why the Psalmist said, “All look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things” (Ps 104:27-28 NIV). We have an awesome God!

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