Sufficient Grace for Daily GrindНамуна

Seeking God in a Stack of Work

Too often, we divide our lives into “spiritual” and “secular” compartments. Sunday’s worship feels holy and significant, while Monday’s to-do list feels like a chore.

But God doesn’t limit His presence to church walls; He wants intimacy in every area of our lives—including our daily work. Numbers clerk, teacher, nurse, architect, stay-at-home parent: each role can become an act of worship.

When we engage in what we deem as "spiritual" activities, such as leading worship in church, helping with church logistics, or playing music on the church stage, we perceive these actions as holy and significant. However, when it comes to our regular jobs and daily responsibilities, we tend to compartmentalize them and assume that God has no involvement in those areas. This line of thinking can lead us down a path of dissatisfaction, where we view our work as burdensome and disconnected from God's presence. In turn, we seek worldly motivations to drive us forward during our daily work in the marketplace, striving for success, promotion, wealth, fame, and power solely for our own gain.

When we shift our perspective, we discover that our daily work becomes an opportunity for us to glorify God. Whether we're crunching numbers in the office, serving customers, teaching students, or designing buildings, our work can be an expression of worship. We can approach it with excellence, integrity, and a heart set on honouring God. By aligning our actions and attitudes with His principles, we bring the spiritual into the secular, transforming our ordinary tasks into acts of devotion.

Consider Joseph. His story doesn't involve what we'd call typical ministry; he worked as a slave and later as an administrator. Yet, he honored God in his daily work. The Bible says he was successful because God was with him, even in slavery. Even after being unjustly thrown into prison, he remained faithful. God, in His wisdom, raised Joseph to be second in command over all of Egypt, using his secular work to save a nation from famine.

And so it was that God, in His infinite wisdom, brought Joseph out of the pit and raised him up to be second in command over all of Egypt. Through Joseph, God worked His great plan to save His people from famine and one day would bring them into the promised land.

For Joseph, like all of us, was part of a larger story - a story that began long before he was born and will continue long after he is gone. And in that story, he played a vital role - a role that only he could play - as a faithful servant of the Lord.

You are part of God’s story in your day-to-day work.

When we put God first in our daily work, our workplace becomes the altar of our offerings. Our work becomes our service. Whether we work in an office, teach in school, stay at home, or cook in the kitchen, it does not matter! As Paul says in Romans 12:1-2, whatever we do, we should put it on the altar as an offering to God. That is our worship.

Paul reminds us in the above verse to do everything as to the Lord and not to men. There is no distinction between ministry and secular work. Everything we do is our service and offering to God, and it does not always have to be on the church stage and visible to the congregation.

As Joseph's story demonstrates, God can use our daily work for His great plan. As we dedicate our daily lives to serving and offering ourselves to Him, God will lead us into His prepared plan for us. We may not know what exactly God's plan for us looks like tomorrow, but we can be certain that when we lay down our lives as an offering to Him, His plan for us will never fail.