Our Daily Bread

Have you ever wondered why a pigeon walks so funny? It’s so that it can see where it’s going. Because a pigeon’s eyes can’t focus as it moves, the bird actually has to bring its head to a complete stop between steps in order to refocus. So it proceeds clumsily—head forward, stop, head back, stop.

Job must have felt as if he were on a roller coaster. One day he seemed to have everything, then suddenly everything was taken away. He lost his family, his possessions, his health, and he even became alienated from his wife and friends.

We don’t have to look far in our society to find things we don’t like. God has a standard of right and wrong, and it contrasts greatly with the crime, sexual immorality, and declining standards of decency that seem to be everywhere.

Many years ago, when my father, Dr. M. R. De Haan, was president of Radio Bible Class, a well-known minister came to our office. Initially I was awed by the presence of this distinguished visitor.

Toward the close of World War II, Allied forces were mopping up against remaining Nazi resistance. One particular unit was assigned a crucial mission in Berlin. Each soldier had to memorize a map detailing all of Berlin’s important military sites—and they had to do it in a single night! In just a few hours, each soldier in the unit had committed the map to memory. The mission was a success.

I have seen them curled up on park benches in Chicago. I’ve observed them asleep in doorways within the shadow of the White House. They slump against the walls of a New York subway. They huddle in the alleys of Los Angeles. They are the homeless—restless, furtive, often sick.

When seemingly needless suffering invades our lives, we often ask ourselves, “Who needs all this grief?” But consider, for a moment, the origin of pearls.

Who would ever dream of amputating his own leg? Nobody—unless that person had lost his mind or was faced with the grim choice of losing either his leg or his life.

Author Peter Kreeft tells the story of a poor European family who saved for years to buy tickets to sail to America. Once at sea, they carefully rationed the cheese and bread they had brought for the journey.

Are you easy to get along with? Do you have a good relationship with your spouse or your friends? Then you probably aren’t guilty of the following behaviors:

• criticizing instead of praising
• using insensitive words
• neglecting others
• making jokes at another’s expense
• not listening
• refusing to admit wrong
• being rude
• belittling others’ opinions