Our Daily Bread Podcast | Our Daily Bread

In a letter dated September 13, 1943—five months after his imprisonment for opposing the Nazi regime—Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote his parents. He asked for books and paper. He thanked them for the ways they’d helped him, and said, “It’s a strange feeling to be so completely dependent on other people; but at least it teaches one to be grateful, and I hope I shall never forget that.

The British TV reality show Portrait Artist of the Year pits nine amateur painters against each other in creating portraits of a local celebrity. The images have to be completed in just four hours, which is condensed into the one-hour program. It’s fascinating to watch the cameras capture each artist’s creation slowly emerging from a blank canvas.

Lillie Cunningham is 110 years old, yet she isn’t reliant on a cane or walker. She does rely on Scripture, however, which she reads every morning and night—and attends church every Sunday. When she considers her life, she states, “I just always had faith and trust in God that he was going to carry us through.”

In September 1963, Welsh artist John Petts heard the news that a racially motivated bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, had killed four African American girls. Wanting to help, he offered to replace the church’s shattered stained-glass window. The people of Wales soon raised the funds.

It was one of those videos that makes you stop and do a double take—Yemeni fishermen frantically rescuing hundreds of sheep from the Red Sea. A ship carrying thousands of sheep had run aground off the coast of Ras Al-Ara, Yemen. The vessel was headed for Djibouti when it capsized, leading to the drowning of more than 160 sheep.

It was late fall, and my wife and I were going to take a trip by car. The day before our planned departure, it began to snow, and I suddenly realized I hadn’t taken the car in to have snow tires put on. The snowy, deteriorating conditions led to a long line at the tire shop—something I could have avoided with better planning.

When Asheton met Nick, she described herself as lost, lacking purpose, and behaving in ways she wasn’t proud of. Nick had recently experienced something similar and had reconnected with his faith in the process. He shared with Asheton how viewing God as a loving potter who had reshaped his life and given him hope in that difficult time.

Dan Wallace teaches Greek and travels the world cataloguing ancient manuscripts. At the height of his career, he caught encephalitis, a disease that causes the brain to swell. Dan spent the next year in a wheelchair, traveling to five hospitals and the Mayo Clinic.

As a player for the San Francisco Giants baseball team, Drew Robinson knew mental highs and lows. Whenever injuries demoted him to the Giants’ minor league affiliate, he’d fall into a depressive state. Will I be replaced?

When Oswald Chambers, author of My Utmost for His Highest, ran a small Bible college, he learned that a couple who worked there was stealing supplies. Although at times it’s right to address wrongdoing, Oswald decided in this instance not to confront them, instead asking God to bring the matter to their hearts and minds. After several weeks, they came clean, expressing regret.

In the semifinals of his high school wrestling tournament, Dave cracked a rib on his right side. He won the match but wondered how he’d survive the championship with a damaged ribcage. In the finals, Dave limped out to the mat on his left, uninjured leg.

When I was a kid and got up in the middle of the night, I often found Mom sitting in her chair in the living room. The glow of the table lamp revealed a book on her lap—her Bible. My mom had trouble sleeping because of her insomnia and chronic pain, but she made good use of her time.