Sign up for our free newsletter:

Key Bible Verse: When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow (James 1:3). Bonus Reading: James 1:2–4

The Angola giraffe was giving birth. I stood next to zoo animal keeper Jack Badal to watch. She was standing up, and the calf's front hooves and head were already visible. "When is she going to lie down?" I asked Jack.

"She won't," he answered.

"But her hindquarters are nearly ten feet off the ground!" I said. "Isn't anyone going to catch the calf?"

"Try catching it if you want," Jack responded, "but its mother has enough strength in her hind legs to kick your head off." Soon the calf hurled forth, landing on his back. His mother waited for about a minute, then kicked her baby, sending it sprawling head over hooves.

"Why'd she do that?"

"She wants it to get up." Whenever the baby ceased struggling to rise, the mother prodded it with a hearty kick. Finally, the calf stood—wobbly but upright. Then she kicked it off its feet again! "She wants it to remember how it got up," Jack offered. "In the wild, if it didn't quickly follow the herd, predators would pick it off."

It's easy for us to view trials as unwelcome intruders in our lives. But they do have a way of prompting us to get up and seek the protection of our heavenly Father.

—Gary Richmond in It's a Jungle Out There

My Response: I'll ask God how my pain could be to protect or stretch me.

Thought to Apply: Not everything that is bad comes to hurt us.—ITALIAN PROVERB

Adapted from It's a Jungle Out There (Harvest, 1996) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

I realize, Lord, that You don't let trials through on a whim. So help me gain the benefits You intend from them.

				Try an Issue of Men of Integrity Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Men of Integrity coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Men of Integrity as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Sign up for the Men of Integrity Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help