Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert (Job 38:25-26)

Most people didn’t view the Great Depression as the best time to launch a toy company. But that’s exactly when LEGO, the most successful toy brand of all time, was born.

The company’s founder, a devout Christian aptly named Ole Kirk Christiansen, had spent years building a traditional carpentry business. But by the early 1930s, business was slumping while his debts were soaring. So he pivoted to making toys like yo-yos, toy cars, and eventually LEGO bricks.

And everyone told him he was out of his mind.

“I think you’re much too good for that, Christiansen,” one friend said. “Why don’t you find something more useful to do!” The world was in crisis after all. People needed food, not toys. 

But Christiansen disagreed. In his own playful life and the life of the business he created to help others play well, Christiansen demonstrated a de...

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. (Luke 6:27)

Fannie Lou Hamer had just given birth, but the only cry in the room was her own. Twice now, she had watched her body grow along with her hope, only for her labor pains to usher in death rather than life. And then there were the miscarriages—losses that came so early she never even felt the joy of kicks in her womb.

Those losses—coupled with her extreme poverty and slave-like work as a sharecropper in Mississippi in the early 1900s—ensured that Hamer moved through her days in a fog. Until a doctor gave her hope: With surgery, the doctor assured her, all of her infertility problems could go away. 

Hamer eagerly signed off on the procedure. But after the surgery, Hamer discovered the unthinkable: The doctor had removed her uterus in a complete hysterectomy done without her knowledge or consent. Hamer’s dreams of having her own children were now utterly and truly dead.

Believe it or not, this was arguably not the most tragic...

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)

Today we’re kicking off a new series where I’ll introduce you to five “mere Christians” who show us what it looks like practically to glorify God via seemingly “secular” work. 

First up? Fred Rogers.

At the height of his fame, Rogers received a letter from Kathy Usher about her daughter, Beth, who had a rare brain disease that caused hundreds of seizures a day. The only thing that made them stop? Watching Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Before a critical surgery, Kathy wrote to Rogers asking for a signed picture to comfort Beth. But Rogers did one better. He called Beth that night and for nearly an hour, Beth talked to Mr. Rogers about everything from her fear of dying to her longing for friends.

But just wait—this story gets crazier. 

During surgery, Beth slipped into a coma. And Rogers called every single day for two weeks to check on her. After one call, Rogers dialed Beth’s surgeon, Dr. Ben Carson, and asked if he...

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:6-8)

I’ve heard Philippians 4:6-7 and Philippians 4:8 preached separately many times. But I’ve never heard these passages preached together. That’s a mistake because there’s a clear connection between anxiety and the things we choose to think about.

That truth has become more apparent as we’ve seen smartphones, social media, and 24 hour news services combine to create a culture of non-stop doomscrolling this past decade.

As Jonathan Haidt says in The Anxious Generation, “the great irony of social media,” is that “...

Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. (Philippians 3:17)

Today’s passage is exemplary of a command we see all throughout Paul’s letters, perhaps most famously in 1 Corinthians 11:1 where the apostle said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

Paul understood that becoming more like Christ requires us seeing flesh-and-bone models of others following Christ. And so Paul encouraged his readers to look to him as an animated, three-dimensional case study of how to glorify God in a cultural context similar to their own.

Paul’s words point to an important principle: If you want to know what it looks like practically to glorify God, look first to Christ and second to Christ’s followers.

Let me suggest you respond to that principle in two practical ways.

First, send a message thanking someone whose example you’ve followed as they’ve followed Christ. Who are the men and wo...

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. (Philippians 2:14-15)

Want to “shine among” the non-Christians you work with? Paul tells you how: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing.” Apparently, working without grumbling and complaining was as countercultural in Paul’s day as it is in ours.

C.S. Lewis once said that, “Hell begins with a grumbling mood.” The inverse is also true. People can get a whiff of heaven through the joyful mood of its citizens. Dr. Randy Alcorn goes so far as to say that, “Happiness in Christ is one of our most powerful evangelistic tools.”

The question, of course, is how can we be joyful and work without grumbling when your co-worker replies all to yet another email or your boss makes an urgent request at 4:45 on a Friday? By focusing on what Christ has done for us.

Just a few verses before...

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. (Philippians 1:21-22)

Today, we’re kicking off a new series exploring wisdom for our work from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, looking at one insight from each of the book’s four chapters.

We begin in chapter 1 with Paul’s words that—so long as he’s alive—he will give himself to “fruitful labor” for the kingdom.

Those words are countercultural today as retirement remains a goal for the vast majority of Americans. And thanks to the growing “Financial Independence, Retire Early” FIRE movement, Gen Z plans to retire earlier than any previous generation at the ripe young age of 54.

How do these people plan to spend the second half of life? The social media bio of a leader of the FIRE movement is telling to that end: “Mr. Money Mustache was a thirtysomething retiree who now writes about how we can all lead a frugal yet Badass life of leisure.”

This idea of tradi...

The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. (Psalm 37:23-24)

We’ve been in a series exploring biblical truths for discerning God’s will for your work. Here’s the fourth and final I’ll share:

Truth #4: Some Christians need to spend less time discerning God’s will and more time doing God’s will.

Now, notice that I didn’t say “spend no time discerning God’s will.” That would be unbiblical and foolish as the wisdom of seeking wisdom from the Lord is everywhere in Scripture (see Proverbs 3:5-6, James 1:5, etc.).

The problem is that many of us spend so much time worrying about God’s will for the future that we never get around to doing his will in the present. 

This stands in stark contrast to the example of Christ’s followers in Scripture. Take Paul as an example. Yes there were times when Paul waited on the Lord in prayer (see Acts 13:1-2, Acts 16:6-10, etc.). But as pastor Jerry Sittser...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The hardest decision I’ve ever made professionally was to step down as CEO of Threshold 360 six years ago. I loved leading that fast growing tech startup. And I also loved creating faith and work content like these devotionals. But I was convinced that I had to put all my professional eggs in one of those two baskets.

I knew neither path was a “higher calling”—I could follow Jesus fully in either role. But I still spent months paralyzed, desperate to discern God’s will for my work.

Part of what freed me was today’s passage, knowing that regardless of which path I chose, as long as my heart was submissive to God today, he would make my paths straight tomorrow. 

As we’ve already seen in this series, Scripture says very little about God’s will for you tomorrow, but a lot about God’s will for you today—namely that he wills ...

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. (1 Corinthians 7:19-21)

My pastor Chris Basham offers an analogy about God’s will that I love. Imagine you set up a backyard full of activities for your kids—a pool, a swingset, monkey bars, a trampoline, a football. You tell them they’re free to play with anything they like, as long as they stay inside the fence, because beyond it lies a pond filled with venomous snakes.

Now imagine your kids keep asking, Can I throw the football? At some point, you’d say, Of course! I wouldn’t have put it there if I didn’t want you to enjoy it.

Many of us act like those kids—constantly asking God for permission to do things he has already permitted. And that’s precisely what Paul addresses in today’s passage.

The Corint...