Our Daily Bread Podcast | Our Daily Bread

God’s Goodness

“Oh no!” That was my response upon opening a beehive and discovering the colony had suddenly died. It had been a thriving hive with lots of honey. I’d carefully maintained it throughout a mild winter and anticipated an early harvest. But a cold snap in the warm weather led to collapse. I checked with local experts. “Many beekeepers lost hives this time,” they reassured me. Mild winters present challenges for bees, even healthy hives. Bees fan their wings to maintain warmth in the hive in winter, but when weather warms briefly, they exhaust themselves seeking even more food. If temperatures drop quickly, they don’t have strength to keep warm. Their “distraction” leads to destruction. Even good things can become dangers when they turn us from what matters most. Moses cautioned God’s people about this after they left Egypt and before they entered the land God was about to give them—a land with “houses filled with all kinds of good things” that they “did not provide” (Deuteronomy 6:11). “When you eat and are satisfied,” Moses warned, “be careful that you do not forget the Lord” (vv. 11–12). Remembering God in our blessings helps us because He is the source of “every good and perfect gift ” (James 1:17). When we humbly respond to His goodness by loving Him with heart, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5), we find in Him the best blessing of all.

Strength from Struggle

Jess was getting on in years when he first heard the children’s folktale about the boy and the butterfly. Right away, he understood the story’s lesson on gaining strength from struggle. In the tale, a boy is given a butterfly cocoon but told not to open it. But as the cocoon slowly twists and shudders in his hand, the boy can’t resist using scissors to split it open so the butterfly inside can escape. Freed from the struggle, however, the butterfly falls to the ground and dies without ever flying. “What happened?” the boy cries. Jess, after a long life, understood instantly. “The boy prevented the butterfly from using the muscles needed to grow strong and fly.” The children’s lesson may be a fairy tale, but it affirms the bracing biblical truth taught by Paul to persecuted believers in Jesus in Rome. “We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4). Paul wasn’t saying to celebrate pain or deny its heartbreak. He confirmed instead that God will use life’s troubles to build our character, growing our hope in Him. It’s in His strength that God develops our trust in His overcoming power. The butterfly was cheated from growing stronger to fly. But in Christ, we can rejoice as struggles lift us with character to God our deliverer.

The Unnamed Women

After wiping down tables with disinfectant, Shelia stooped to tie a garbage bag filled with used cups and plates. She heaved the bag over her shoulder and turned to survey the church’s multipurpose room. She’d volunteered to clean it for the next gathering and wanted to make sure it was ready. A thought fluttered through her mind: Would anyone notice? It’s easy to wonder if our everyday contributions to the kingdom are valued. Whether we clean, balance spreadsheets, lead a Bible study, or give money, so many of us remain unseen in our places of service and unnamed in public commendations. In Luke 8:1-2, the historian catalogs the faithful service of women in the ministry of Jesus. He lists three by name: Mary of Magdalene who was among the women freed of evil spirits and diseases; Joanna the wife of Chuza, who managed Herod’s household; and Susanna. Then Luke says, “Many others . . . were helping to support [Jesus and His disciples] out of their own means” (v. 3). Luke spotlights these unnamed women who invested themselves in supporting the gospel, and so underlines their value. Just as God includes unnamed women in His account of valuable contributions to His kingdom, He sees our efforts. He knows our names (John 10:3), and He sees our investment in His work (Hebrews 6:10).

God’s Undeniable Power

When the Transit Agency of Central Kentucky (TACK) renovated its headquarters, it wanted to make sure people noticed. Instead of a subtle sign or announcement, it installed a massive, nearly twenty-two feet tall thumbtack at its entrance. The thumbtack, a world record, is an undeniable marker that no passersby can miss. In Daniel 6, God used something undeniable to get people’s attention: He miraculously rescued Daniel after he’d been placed in a lion’s den for choosing to defy King Darius’ decree and continuing to pray to God (vv. 10-23). The prophet survived because he’d “trusted in . . . God” (v. 23). Darius then declared that—unlike the dead idols of the Medes and Persians—Daniel’s God was “the living God [who] endures forever” (v.26). He alone “rescues and . . . saves [and] performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth” (v. 27). It’s remarkable that even a pagan king acknowledged God’s power and sovereignty. Like a giant, divine “thumbtack,” God’s act of power couldn’t be overlooked. Sometimes God gets our attention as He does something significant and undeniable (v. 27)—supernatural rescues, right-on-time provisions, and heart transformations. Other times, He works quietly as we watch and wait. Let’s stand in awe of what He’s doing in and around us today—trusting in Him and His great power (v. 23).

Refreshing Generosity

An auditorium full of medical students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine listened intently as ninety-year-old Ruth Gottesman spoke. As she concluded, Ruth announced—to the students’ gasps, cheers, and pandemonium—that she was donating $1 billion so that they could finish their education tuition free. This is the largest donation ever given to a medical school. Yet in the interviews that followed, you would have thought that Gottesman was the one receiving the gift. She expressed joy, delight, and honor to be able to give her money away. Proverbs tells us that this is how generosity works. The one who “gives freely,” far from being left diminished or bereft, finds blessings they hadn’t anticipated (11:24). When we freely open our hands to others, we’re somehow left with something more—not less. “Whoever refreshes,” Scripture says, “will be refreshed” (v. 25). We’re tempted to tightly grip whatever we have, fearful that we’ll be taken advantage of or left with nothing. God’s economy works differently, however. Jesus went a step further, stating that it’s “more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). We can be generous with our lives and our resources, offering what we have to others in need. And then, in return we’ll find that we end up receiving too. There’s plenty for everyone in God’s kingdom.