Finding God at Work

Sometimes we're ashamed about our weaknesses.

Sometimes we're ashamed about our sin.

When we come clean about our sin, we're owning something wrong.

But when we "come clean" about our weaknesses, we realize they're nothing to be ashamed of. It takes humility to name them. But there's freedom and growth when we do.

Sources: Genesis 2:25 (ESV)

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (ESV)

Psalm 51:3,6 (ESV)

"The Christianity Today Book Awards," Books, Christianity Today, January/February 2026.

Arthur Brooks, "Humility is the full acceptance of the truth about ourselves," Facebook, December 3, 2024.

Transformation Intensive

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Humble pie does not taste great.

It's hard to eat it, to get it down. It's hard to admit that we're wrong.

It's hard to revise our estimate of ourselves in a downwards direction.

But it sure is good for us.

Sources: Philippians 2:8 (ESV)

Deuteronomy 8:11-18 (ESV)

Donelson R. Forsyth, "Self-Serving Bias," International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by William A. Darity, 2nd ed. Vol. 7 (Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008).

Leanne Payne, Restoring the Christian Soul: Overcoming Barriers to Completion in Christ through Healing Prayer (Ada, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996).

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #Humility #Pride #HumblePie #SelfServingBias #Philippians2 #Deuteronomy8 #DonelsonForsyth #LeannePayne #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

What can you do when you can't hack it at work?

When you just can't get it done?

When you hit the wall?

Sometimes our limitations surprise us. But they aren't a surprise to God. The Bible tells us that "he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14 ESV).

In God's compassionate embrace, we find that we can be compassionate toward ourselves, even (and especially) on our worst work days.

Sources: Psalm 103:13-18 (ESV)

Leanne Payne, Restoring the Christian Soul: Overcoming Barriers to Completion in Christ through Healing Prayer (Ada, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996).

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 2001). First published 1952 by Geoffrey Bles (London).

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #Depression #SeasonalDepression #SAD #Psalm103 #Compassion #SelfCompassion #SelfAcceptance #Forgiveness #LeannePayne #CSLewis #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

How do we make sense of "normal life" when it feels like the world is on fire?

In the midst of global and national crisis, thoughts like these go through my mind: At such a time, is it right for us to keep following our routines, working and playing, resting and reading? Isn't this an emergency? Shouldn't we disrupt our lives to go take decisive action on behalf of the vulnerable? But what would that decisive action even look like?

C.S. Lewis helps answer questions like these in his wonderful 1939 sermon, "Learning in Wartime."

Sources: Psalm 140:12 (ESV)

2 Corinthians 6:2 (ESV)

C.S. Lewis, "Learning in War-Time" (sermon, Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, Autumn 1939). Christendom College, February 2021.

C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy (New York: HarperCollins, 2009). First published 1954 by Geoffrey Bles (London).

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #Emergency #Crisis #Venezuela #ICE #NormalLife #CSLewis #LearningInWartime #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

Chris interviews attorney Kevin Drendel about how his faith has intersected with his practice of law, both at work and through a nonprofit legal aid ministry. Hear how God showed up when he realized he could do nothing to help a client, coming to the end of himself.

Kevin Drendel is Managing Partner at Drendel & Jansons Law Group in Batavia, Illinois, a board member and local Justice Champion for Administer Justice, and an advisory board member of the Fox Valley Music Foundation. You can find his writing about faith, music, and everything else on his blog, Navigating By Faith.

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #Attorney #Lawyer #Law #AdministerJustice #LegalAid #FoxValley #Batavia #Writing #NavigatingByFaith #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

We are all creatures of habit. We have a routine for how we start our workday, even if we've never given it much thought.

That means you already have a workplace "liturgy." A pattern and order to your work day. What would it look like to shape that liturgy intentionally, so that it helps you stay present to God as you work?

Sources: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV)

Daniel 6:10 (ESV)

Henry David Thoreau, Walden, or, Life in the Woods (Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1854), Project Gutenberg.

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #Liturgy #Shema #Mezuzah #Daniel #Thoreau #Walden #WaldenPond #Habit #Routine #JesusPrayer #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

Chris interviews Pastor Daniel Small about his unusual vocational journey, his experiences dealing with workplace anxiety (including at least one unexpected bout of sleep-talking), how practices like prayer walks and the prayer of examen help him spiritually ground his work, and how he's seen people in his community discover the spiritual meaning of their "secular" jobs.

Daniel Small is Community Groups Pastor at Christ Community Church in the Illinois Fox Valley area, where he also leads their Faith at Work ministry. You can check out the Faith at Work podcast for interviews and prayer exercises to help you practice your Christian faith in the workplace every day. You can also find Daniel's writing on Medium.

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #Consulting #Church #Pastor #PrayerWalk #ScriptureMemorization #Anxiety #Examen #FoxValley #Writing #TheTallSmall #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

What if the mild annoyances we face from our coworkers can build a spirit of forgiveness in us over time? If we engage them as "little weights" of forgiveness to lift, we build our muscle. Low weight, high repetition!

Eventually, we may get strong enough in God's grace to forgive even more serious wrongs. After all, Jesus calls us not just to love our friends, but also our enemies. What could help us become the kind of people who genuinely root for the well-being of those who have insulted and hurt us?

It's not just practice that makes the difference. It's reckoning with how much God has forgiven us.

Sources: Matthew 5:43-45 (ESV)

Luke 23:34 (ESV)

Matthew 18:15-17 (NIV)

1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)

Matthew 18:21-35 (NIV)

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #Forgiveness #StrengthTraining #LoveYourEnemies #Coworkers #Cross #ForgiveThem #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

God is crafting your soul, like a woodworker in a shop.

What if God is using the abrasive experiences in your life like spiritual sandpaper, sanding down the rough edges of your character?

The minor inconveniences of our working life may have value in helping us become more patient, gracious people.

And even in more serious moments of suffering, we can find grace to grow through it.

Sources: Luke 9:23-24 (ESV)

1 Corinthians 3:6-15 (ESV)

Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #TakeUpYourCross #Luke9 #1Corinthians3 #Romans5 #FellowWorker #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

Sometimes God calls us to do things that are pretty unstrategic.

As Gideon is leading his soldiers to battle, God has him *reduce* the number of troops. And then reduce them again. When Gideon courageously obeys, God still carries the day.

Could it be God is asking you to do something unstrategic in your career?

What would it look like to let him carry the day in your work?

Sources: Matthew 13:44 (ESV)

Judges 7:1-8,16-22 (NIV) "All about Hokie Stone," History and Traditions, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Wikipedia contributors, "Hokie Stone," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (last edited April 24, 2025).

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