The Word Before Work

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from JosephDevotional: 3 of 5Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” (Genesis 41:15-16)Joseph was in prison unjustly. So when the guards told him that the Pharaoh needed his skills, Joseph must have sensed some hope that maybe, just maybe, his talents as a dream interpreter could earn him a literal get out of jail free card.With that context, we almost expect Joseph to trumpet his own abilities to Pharaoh. But when Pharaoh gives him that opportunity, Joseph deflects the glory that could have so easily been his.What remarkable humility! Even though he was in the fight of his life where the temptation to glorify himself through his work must have been strong, Joseph recognized that it is God, not us, who produces results through our work. And thus, he alone deserves the glory.Ironically, it was that humility that led Joseph to be so bold. The biblical text implies that Pharaoh had already asked countless other wise men to interpret his dream before concluding that “no one” could do it. But Joseph walks up and essentially says of Pharaoh’s request, “No problem.” Because Joseph recognized that it was God working through him, he knew that God could use him to do work others deemed impossible.Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a writer, a teacher, a stay-at-home-mom, or a designer, you have an unfair advantage. You have the God who is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” living inside of you (see Ephesians 3:20). Let that truth inspire you, like Joseph, to boldly take on the problems nobody else will touch. Because when you succeed, God alone will get the glory!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from JosephDevotional: 2 of 5Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him (Genesis 39:20-21a)Joseph, the treasured son of Jacob, was sold into slavery by his brothers and eventually wound up in Egypt working for Potiphar, an Egyptian official. And right from the start, Joseph proves to be exceptionally good at his job. Genesis 39:2-3 tells us that “The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered...the Lord gave him success in everything he did.” Seeing this, “Potiphar put [Joseph] in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned” (Genesis 39:4). But after refusing to go to bed with Potiphar’s wife, Joseph is wrongly accused of sexual harassment and thrown in prison. In sum, Joseph goes from a state of helplessness as a slave, to a position of power in the palace, back to a place of great weakness as a prisoner. And yet, “there in the prison, the Lord was with him.”So “the Lord was with Joseph” in the palace and “the Lord was with him” in the prison. He was with him on the mountaintop of his career and in the deepest valley.If you’re in a season of flourishing at work—en route to the metaphorical mountaintop of your career—take a moment to recognize that it is only because the Lord is with you. If that’s not you, and you feel stuck in a vocational valley due to injustice, a bad economy, or your own missteps, take heart: The Lord is also with you. And as long as you have him, you can say “Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Why? Because it is God’s presence that you and I need most. And his presence is available to us whether we’re in the proverbial palace or prison of our careers. I love how pastor A.J. Sherrill articulates this idea: “Every moment of every day, the most significant happening in the entire universe is the radical availability of God’s presence.” Amen. With that in mind, embrace God’s radical presence as you work today. Don’t just work for God but with him. Talk to him. Be mindful of his presence. Experience his love. And let that experience of his love compel you to extend that love to those you serve through your work!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from JosephDevotional: 1 of 5Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more…His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. (Genesis 37:5, 8)God has given you a dream for your work. Maybe it’s doubling your business so that you can provide more jobs that lead to human flourishing. Maybe it’s writing a book to help others learn from your mistakes. Maybe God has given you a dream for an entirely different career than the one you hold today. If you have breath in your lungs, I’m confident that God has given you a dream for your work. But I’m also confident that there are many moments when you feel a disconnect between your dream and your present reality—a gap between what God has placed in your heart and what he has placed in your hands. Joseph understood the pain of staring into that gap better than most. In today’s passage, we see God giving Joseph a vocational dream inside a literal dream. Joseph’s vision was that one day he would be in a position of authority so great that even his elder brothers would be subject to him. In Genesis 41, we see this dream become a reality when Joseph is 30 years old. But today’s passage occurred when Joseph was just 17 (see Genesis 37:2). There was a 13 year gap between the giving of Joseph’s dream and the fulfillment of it. And the details of what happened in that gap are some of the most heart-wrenching in Scripture. Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery. He was falsely accused of sexual harassment. He was unjustly imprisoned and forgotten by the very people he helped in prison (see Genesis 37-39).This life looked like a far cry from the dream God gave him as a teenager. How did Joseph respond to the painful gap between his vision and his reality?He worked with diligence on the work God had given him to do even if it wasn’t his (literal) “dream job” (see Genesis 39:1-6). He chose to obey God rather than taking shortcuts to power (see Genesis 39:6-10). And most of all, he cultivated his relationship with God (see Genesis 41:37-45).In short, Joseph focused on faithfulness to the Dream-giver over the fulfillment of his dreams.You and I would be wise to do the same. Joseph reminds us that God’s people don’t abandon their vocational dreams, but we do make them secondary to obedience to and relationship with the Dream-giver. Because without God, your professional dream—whether fulfilled or not—will always become a nightmare.

Learn how to improve the reputation of Christianity by celebrating the good in non-Christians' work and recognizing that God can work through anyone.

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Common Grace & Uncommon WorkDevotional: 4 of 5The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. (Psalm 145:9)I was talking with a friend recently who explained how he felt called by God to quit podcasting because of how much anxiety it was causing him.Every one of this guy’s friends was telling him that he needed the podcast to grow his business. But he shut down the show anyway. And then, his business exploded.Reflecting on this series of events, my friend said, “It just goes to show that God rewards doing business his way.”“Ummmmm, not so fast,” I said.I went on to lovingly explain to my friend that it may be true that God’s blessing was tied to what he perceived to be an act of faithfulness. But not necessarily. While there are certainly eternal rewards tied to working “as unto the Lord” (see Colossians 3:23-24), temporal rewards are not always connected to our righteousness. To quote my college statistics professor, “Correlation does not imply causation.”Because, as we’ve seen throughout this series on common grace, God gives good gifts to “the righteous and the unrighteous” (see Matthew 5:45). That truth has a number of practical implications for our work including this: Common grace forces us to decouple our success from our faithfulness.If, in the words of today’s passage, “the Lord is good to all” and not just the faithful, then my friend can’t connect his success to his obedience. Because there are plenty of people not working “as unto the Lord” who are succeeding by the world’s standards every day!The same is true for you and me. If you get a promotion today or land a new customer, it’s not necessarily because you’ve had a consistent quiet time this month. And conversely, if you don’t land that promotion, it’s not necessarily because you forgot to tithe on Sunday. Remember, Job was “blameless and upright” (see Job 1:1) and yet he lost everything both personally and professionally!Common grace reminds us that God doesn’t do good to us because we are good to him. He does good to us because he is good. May that truth lead you to follow his ways as you work today—not so that he will bless you, but because he created and redeemed you for his glory.

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Common Grace & Uncommon WorkDevotional: 3 of 5When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?...His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. (Isaiah 28:24,26)I was recently asked to speak to a group of pastors about Redeeming Your Time, my book that examines God’s Word and bestselling time management books for wisdom about how we can be maximally productive for God’s glory.Before I took the stage, a pastor spoke and passionately called the audience to ignore “secular” business books. The essence of the man’s message was that, “The only book you need is the Good Book.”When it was my turn to speak, I knew I couldn’t bite my tongue. So I addressed the pastor’s comments head on and said, “We might not ‘need’ these ‘secular’ business books per se. But God in his common grace has given great wisdom to Christians and non-Christians alike and we would be foolish not to learn from them.”I was expecting somebody to throw a rotten tomato. Thankfully, I got a bunch of “amens” instead. Because the pastors in the audience understood the truth embedded in today’s passage.Isaiah says that “God instructs” farmers and “teaches” them “the right way.” But notice this: The passage doesn’t say that God instructs only God-fearing farmers. As we’ve seen throughout this series, the doctrine of common grace teaches us that God makes it “rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (see Matthew 5:45). He reveals truth to God-fearing farmers and God-hating farmers—to Christian authors and non-Christian ones.What does that mean for you and me? Here’s the third response to common grace I want you to see in this series: Common grace frees us to learn from and work with Christians and non-Christians alike.I know Christians who will only work for Christian employers, hire Christian vendors, retain Christian attorneys, and watch films made by Christians. Do you see how common grace destroys that thinking? If not, hear this from the late great Tim Keller: Of course, all non-believers have seriously impaired spiritual vision. Yet so many of the gifts God has put in the world are given to nonbelievers….So Christians are free to study the world…in order to know more of God; for as creatures made in His image we can appreciate truth and wisdom wherever we find it.Amen. So go out and freely and joyfully learn from and work with believers and non-believers alike today, knowing that every true and good gift is ultimately from God!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Common Grace & Uncommon WorkDevotional: 2 of 5Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. (Luke 6:27)Last week, we began exploring how our work should be uncommonly shaped by the reality of common grace: the goodness God shows to “the righteous and the unrighteous,” his friends and his enemies (see Matthew 5:45).Today, we’ll see that common grace should lead us to be good to our enemies.Interestingly, that’s the context of Matthew 5:45. Jesus said, “I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you…because [God] makes his sun rise on both evil and good people, and he lets rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:44-45).You see it right? Jesus is saying that we should do good to our enemies because of God’s common grace! God is so good that he longs to do good to “the righteous and the unrighteous.” And he’s calling you and me to be the conduits for his blessings.Now, you may not have anyone at work you’d describe as an “enemy.” But do you have a boss who’s hard to love? Or a co-worker who’s spreading lies and gossip about you? Or a competitor who’s knocking-off your product? Of course you do. Everyone is currently working with or for someone they consider to be less than friendly. God isn’t calling you simply to “do no harm” to that person. But to proactively bless them! What does that look like practically?Let’s say someone on your team (an employee, vendor, etc.) did a terrible job on a project, costing you a lot of time, energy, money, and maybe even social capital. They did such a bad job that they were fired or taken off of your team. Loving this “enemy” could look like:Praying that God would bless them in their careersGiving them feedback to help them in their future career (instead of, as I’m tempted to do, write the person off and get back to work)Proactively writing a LinkedIn recommendation that focuses on the things the person did do wellOffer them forgiveness for how they wronged youRefusing to speak poorly about them with those who remain on the projectI’ve been in the situation above and have not loved my “enemy” well. But the doctrine of common grace reminds me that I’m called to do better next time. Because God is seeking to do good to the righteous and the unrighteous. With that in mind, love your enemies well at work today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Common Grace & Uncommon WorkDevotional: 1 of 5[God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45)When the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2:8 that “it is by grace you have been saved,” he was referring to God’s saving grace: the grace that, through Christ, saves human beings from their sins.Separate from saving grace is the doctrine of God’s common grace: the goodness God shows people regardless of their relationship with or faith in him.That’s what Jesus was referring to in today’s passage when he said that God “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good” (Matthew 5:45). Christ was saying that, while God is the source of “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17), God chooses to give those gifts to “the righteous” and “to ungrateful and evil people” (Luke 6:35).So, while only Christians are recipients of God’s saving grace, every human being is a constant  recipient of God’s common grace.God does good to you and your atheist co-worker who claims God doesn’t exist, your competitor who lies and cheats, and your boss who slanders the name of Christ. God “sent rain” and food to Mother Teresa and to Hitler. How should you and I respond to the reality of God’s common grace?I don’t know about you, but if I’m honest, my first reaction to that truth is anger—a reaction the psalmists are very familiar with (see Psalm 73 and 94 as just two examples).But common grace also leads me to astonishing awe at the goodness of God. And a profound sense of gratefulness that God was good to me before I was hidden in Christ and that he continues to bless me today when I disobey the One who obediently went to the cross on my behalf.Throughout this series, I’ll share 5 responses to common grace that lead to uncommon work. Here’s the first: Common grace should leave us dumbstruck at the goodness of God.Take a moment right now to marvel at the goodness God has shown you and non-believers. And let that remembrance of his grace lead you to extend goodness and blessings to everyone you work with today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Thanks for Thorns and ThistlesDevotional: 5 of 5As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:9-11)In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry stumbles upon an enchanted mirror. Unlike normal mirrors, this one does not show the reflection of the person standing in front of it. Instead, it shows a reflection of “the deepest, most desperate desire” of that person’s heart.But the object inside the mirror is just a mirage—a tantalizing vision trapped on the other side of the glass. This, of course, drives the mirror’s visitors mad with frustration. But you and I both know this is a blessing in disguise. Because even if they were able to get their hands on the object of their affection, unless that object was Christ, it would inevitably disappoint.My temptation, and I think yours, is to look to our careers for the very thing Harry was searching for inside that mirror—complete and cosmic joy. But as Jesus makes clear in today’s passage, our joy will only be made complete through his love.Not through our families. Not through our health. Not through landing a promotion, selling your business, or being recognized in your field.And so, we can praise God for the days when our work feels like less than complete joy. Because our “painful toil” is reminding us that Christ alone can fully satisfy us. For this reason, John Mark Comer says this:“I think the curse is a blessing in camouflage. It’s God’s love in disguise. His mercy incognito. Because the curse drives us to God. If it weren’t for the curse…we would look to whatever it is we do for work or rest, and we would find it. And nothing could be more disastrous for the world than God’s image bearers finding identity and belonging and even satisfaction apart from him.”Should we lament over cursed work? Absolutely! Because God didn’t design our work to be painful (see Genesis 1-2 and Isaiah 65).But as we’ve seen in this series, we can also praise God for the blessings he brings us through cursed, frustrating, painfully difficult work. Because “thorns and thistles”:Force us to rely on GodHumble us and compel us to rely on othersLead us to long for eternity with Christ when work will be perfect once againCreate empathy that helps us to make work less painful for othersEnsure that nothing but Christ will ever fully satisfy usIn light of those truths, give thanks for the thorns and thistles you encounter in your work today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Thanks for Thorns and ThistlesDevotional: 4 of 5Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4)When I was researching my next book, I read tons of dense books with “paragraphs” that spanned entire pages—sometimes multiple pages. Every time I approached another mammoth passage, I felt exhausted before I even began reading. It felt like the cognitive equivalent of staring up at Mount Everest before an ascent.After complaining about my own pain long enough (first-world problems, I know), the Lord reminded me that I’ve written some long paragraphs myself. And if long paragraphs made my work feel arduous, my longwindedness probably makes your reading feel arduous too.So I went back through the manuscript I was writing and took a machete to the document, chopping every paragraph down to size.That’s a small example of one reason I think we can all give thanks for the “thorns and thistles” that make our work difficult: Painful work can create empathy that leads us to make work less painful for others. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, thorny work can lead you to, “look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).Let’s apply this principle to your own work today. Maybe you feel overwhelmed by the number of meetings you’re being asked to attend this week. Instead of sitting in your own frustration, what if you channeled that pain into love for your neighbor? What if you looked at the meetings you’ve invited others to and questioned whether or not those meetings would serve them well?Or let’s say you’re frustrated by emails that distract you at all hours of the day. Instead of focusing on “your own interests,” what if you looked “to the interests of others” who work for you? What if you sent them a message letting them off the hook for feeling like they have to respond immediately to your emails so that they can work with less distraction?If you took those actions, you could certainly give thanks for the thorns and thistles in your work, because they will have led you to better love your neighbor as yourself.Spend a couple of minutes in silence this morning naming which aspects of your work are most frustrating to you. Pray that God would allow that pain to lead to creative ideas for making work less painful for those you work with. And then give thanks that God can use even the broken things of this world for his glory and the good of others.