Our Daily Bread

The Senior PGA Tour, often called the “Second-Chance Tour,” has given many long-time teaching pros a new golfing career after age 50. Sportswriter Jack Cavanaugh says, “In no other sport does an athlete who never made it to the world-class level in his prime get a second chance in middle age to prove himself and amass riches that he could only dream about in his 20s, 30s, or 40s.”

The world is undeniably in great need. Many people wonder why God doesn’t intervene in our messed-up world and put things right; why He doesn’t reach out and mend all the broken people.

It had been a long Michigan winter and my 3-year-old granddaughter had forgotten all about thunderstorms. So she was frightened one spring afternoon when the sky grew dark, lightning flashed, thunder began to roll, and rain came pouring down. She climbed onto her dad’s lap. He reassured her that God knows all about thunderstorms, and he used the occasion to tell her about God’s awesome power.

The climax of the United States Declaration of Independence is not the glowing words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident.” It is the list of names at the end of the document—men who were willing to stake their fortunes, their sacred honor, and their lives on a few convictions that changed the world.

Peter Marshall, whose dynamic preaching attracted crowds of people, died suddenly on the morning of January 25, 1949, at the age of 46. In one of his sermons he had said: “When the clock strikes for me, I shall go, not one minute early, and not one minute late. Until then, there is nothing to fear. I know that the promises of God are true, for they have been fulfilled in my life time and time again. Jesus still teaches and guides and protects and heals and comforts, and still wins our complete trust and our love.”

A cynic asked an elderly believer who had endured great physical pain for 20 years, “What do you think of your God now?” The godly sufferer replied, “I think of Him more than ever.”

A Sunday school teacher pointed to a large plant in the room and asked her young pupils, “Who made those beautiful flowers grow?” A boy quickly answered, “God did!” The teacher was pleased by the response, but before she had a chance to comment, another boy shouted, “But fertilizer sure helps!”

As a young boy, I loved the story of Jesus ascending into heaven. I visualized Him slowly rising above the earth with hands outstretched in blessing. I remember wondering why He went up visibly instead of instantly disappearing as He had done at other times after His resurrection. I also wondered where heaven is located and what Jesus is doing there now.

From the cradle to the grave, we all need love. How vividly this is illustrated in the song “Jesus Loves Me” by Anna B. Warner (1824-1915). She and her sister Susan were gifted novelists. Anna also published many poems. The familiar lines of “Jesus Loves Me” were penned in 1860 as a poem of comfort spoken to a dying child in one of Susan’s stories. Today it’s sung by children and adults around the world.

As I stood on the Golan Heights, with the Sea of Galilee sparkling in the distance, I listened to our Jewish guide tell about his participation in the 1967 Six-Day War. His vivid accounts of Israel’s victories over bigger, more powerful enemies reminded me of Bible stories I learned as a child.