Our Daily Bread Podcast | Our Daily Bread

When the navigation app suggested a route that would cut almost an hour off their drive from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, Shelby Easler and her brother followed the alternate directions. However, the “short cut” led them along a dirt path for hours that left them stranded in California’s Mojave Desert during a dust storm. They were able to reverse course, but they eventually had to be towed because of all the damage ...

When Royston’s daughter Hannah suffered a brain bleed that resulted in a coma, he and his family repeatedly turned to God in prayer. Over months of waiting they clung to each other—and to God. The family’s faith awakened, as Royston reflected: “Never has God felt closer.” Throughout the ordeal, they were given “a renewal of faith to persist in prayer” like the “widow of Luke 18.&rdquo...

On a long family road trip, I spent hours driving through the sparsely populated states of Montana and South Dakota. As I drove, I began to notice a pattern: vast stretches of farmland were dotted with groves of trees surrounding a house. As I worked hard to keep our van in our lane due to strong winds, it dawned on me that the trees were there for more than beauty. They were also intentionally cultivated windbreakers designed to p...

When Diana’s vision began to deteriorate, she grew concerned. She’d also been having trouble thinking and kept repeating herself. Her symptoms caused doctors to believe it wasn’t a problem with her eyes but something in her brain. They learned she had a large tumor in her brain that needed to be removed. Diana was concerned that the surgery would impair her ability to sing—something she’s passionate ab...

Merriam-Webster’s 2023 Word of the Year was “authentic.” It means “not false or an imitation” and “true to one’s own personality, spirit or character.” People search for truth, but discerning fact from fiction can be challenging.  Editor Peter Sokolowski said, “Can we trust whether a student wrote this paper [or] . . . whether a politician made this statement? We don’...

After I joined the board of trustees of a seminary, the long-term leader announced his retirement. I found myself among those tasked with searching for a new president. Together, we amassed a daunting list of qualifications. How would we find someone to fulfill such a complicated and vital role?

I wondered the same as I read God’s specifications for the tabernacle’s lampstands to be crafted of pure gold, with flower-li...

The members asked why their church was buying a steeple. Was this the best use of God’s resources? What about feeding the poor? The pastor replied that the funds came from donors and needed to be spent as they wished. “Besides,” he quoted Jesus, “the poor you will always have with you” (Mark 14:7).

The pastor quickly apologized for his flippant, out of context remark, which led me to wonder, What was ...

“Did you grow up around here?” It was difficult to answer my dental hygienist’s simple question because her teeth-cleaning tools were still inside my mouth. She explained that in 1945 our city became the first in the world to add fluoride to public drinking water. Thought to prevent cavities, the treatment doesn’t require much: just 0.7 milligrams of fluoride to a liter of water. Its positive effects are obv...

Jesus, how are You praying for me? I’d never thought to ask that question until my friend Lou shared the experience of his heart-cry to Christ when he was faced with a situation that required more wisdom and strength than he was able to muster. Hearing him voice that noteworthy question in prayer has helped me add a fresh dimension to my understanding and practice of prayer.

In Luke 22, there was no mystery as to how Jesus w...

We have a new puppy, Winston. He bites. Sleeps. Eats. (Does one or two other things.) Oh, and he digs. Winston doesn’t dig casually. He tunnels. Like he’s escaping from prison. It’s compulsive, ferocious, and filthy.

Why does that dog dig so much? I wondered recently. Then it hit me: I’m a digger, too—prone to “digging” into myriad things I hope will make me happy. They’re not always...

Tom, age seven, admired his dad’s shiny trophies from school track events sitting on a shelf. He thought, I want one of those for my bedroom. So he asked, “Dad, can I have one of your trophies?” The man surprisingly answered, “No, Tom, those are mine. I earned them, and you can earn your own.” Then they made a plan that if he ran around the block in a certain amount of time (he knew his son could do it...

After years of discipling Caleb by himself, Mark was dismayed to find out that a church leader had assigned another mentor to the young man. The leader remarked, “Finally, Caleb has a mentor.”

What did they think I was doing all these years? Mark wondered. Though he had not expected any reward or recognition, he couldn’t help feeling hurt.

Years later, however, Caleb told Mark that he had entered Caleb’s l...

A family who’d lost touch with their son and brother Tyler received an urn that was said to contain his cremation ashes. Just twenty-two years old, he’d apparently died of a drug overdose. For years, Tyler had dealt with the effects of drug addiction and poor choices. But prior to the reported overdose, he’d been sober after spending time in a transitional housing facility and completing an addiction recovery prog...

When my grandmother was gently informed that my grandpa would likely pass on in the next few days, we were concerned that she’d be upset and anxious. “Are you worried?” someone asked her, thinking that she might have questions about her husband’s physical condition or need help for her own needs. She thought for a moment. “No,” she calmly answered, “I know where he’s going. God is the...

They were three adrenaline-fueled teenage boys, unleashed in the immense underground system connecting to Mammoth Cave. With them was their Uncle Frank, a veteran caver familiar with these parts. He knew the drop-offs and danger spots and continually called to the three, “Guys, this way!” Still, they ventured ever farther from him.

Dimming his headlamp, Uncle Frank decided to remain silent. Soon, the boys realized they...

In 2011, Karey Packard and her daughter were packing boxes for a move to a new home. Suddenly, Karey collapsed, and her heart stopped—the beginning of a long nightmare. Doctors revived Karey, but her condition worsened through the night. Her husband, Craig, was told to call family to say final goodbyes. They prayed what Craig called, “a prayer of desperation.”

How often have we prayed a prayer of desperation in a...

In her early years as a Christian author, Gayle often received winsome gifts from her publisher. Bouquets of flowers, chocolates, boxes of herbal teas. All lovely. But over time, her publisher began to send gifts with lasting value. A one-year Bible, devotionals, and prayer journals. As she used them, Gayle became a more mature believer—less distracted by frilly gifts and more committed to using her life to lead others to Chr...

In 1890, amateur ornithologist Eugene Schieffelin decided to release sixty European starlings into New York City’s Central Park. While there were likely several introductions of the species, Schieffelin’s released starlings resulted in the first successful documented nesting. Now there are roughly eighty-five million of the birds flapping across the continent. Unfortunately, starlings are invasive, pushing out native bi...

My  grandmother had a routine on Saturday nights. Before she went to bed, she laid out all her clothing including the shoes she planned to wear to church the next morning. She always attended the early service and wanted to be ready to get up and go the next morning without any delay. One Saturday night she was suddenly hospitalized. Later, Jesus called her name and she died. When my grandfather returned home from the hospital...