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...

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:33-34)

Which job should I take? What goals is God calling me to pursue in my business? Has God closed the door on this opportunity for good? All of these are variations of the same question: What is God‘s will for my work?

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to explore four biblical truths for discerning God’s will for your work that I’m confident will lead you to unprecedented freedom, clarity, and joy. The first might surprise you…

Truth #1: Scripture says very little about God’s will for you tomorrow, but a lot about God’s will for you today.

If you search “God’s will” in the New Testament you will find nothing that resembles the types of future tense discernment we spend so much time worrying about today. And when Scripture does talk about the future, ...

…the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me….I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:14-15, 22-23)

In the past few centuries, many churches have unbiblically elevated the callings of pastors and missionaries above those of “mere Christians”—teachers, small business owners, mechanics, and others working outside the pulpit. It’s no surprise that modern believers often forget the Apostle Paul was a mere Christian himself who worked as a tentmaker (see Acts 18:1-3). 

Paul didn’t take up this work out of necessity. As today’s passage shows, he could have exercised his “right” to work as a donor-supported missionary. But he chose not to because he saw his work as a strategic vehic...

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

We’re in a series exploring wisdom for our work from some “Mere Christians of the Bible”—believers who did not work as pastors or donor-supported missionaries, but as shepherds, winemakers, and more. That would have described most of the believers at the Church of Thessalonica, whom Paul rebuked for idleness in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 2 Thessalonians 3.

Why were these mere Christians idle? The Theology of Work Project suggests they fell for “a common, but false” idea that “Christ’s coming into the world has radically diminished the value of everyday labor,” and that some believers were “using some aspect of Christ’s teaching—whether it was his second coming, or his commission to evangelize the world—to justify their idleness.”

But Paul rejected this outright. As he...