Wisdom for Work (Especially When It's Hard)Sample

What’s the Biblical response to the mounting anxiety in our lives? As we saw two days ago, we must first confront our anxiety honestly, recognizing our stressors for what they are. Second, we take the Lord up on His offer to cast our anxieties and worries upon Him, for He cares deeply for us.

Finally, as we will see today, once we have confronted our anxieties and cast them upon the Lord, we must carry on in the work the Father has created us to do. We rise up from our confession full of faith. We believe that God has graciously taken our anxieties upon Himself and that He has become our burden-bearer. We trust that, because God cares so much for us, He does not desire for us to exist in a perpetual state of anxiety. He does not want us anxiously obsessing over the things in our lives that we can’t control. So, He takes them from us. That which brought us worry and a disquieted spirit no longer rests on our shoulders. Therefore, we need not be fixated on the anxieties of the past. We are able to carry on with great freedom.

One of the best examples I know of this kind of faith is from the life of the LEGO founder. Everyone knows the name LEGO but few people know the name Ole Kirk Christiansen, a modern-day Job who underwent immense suffering in his lifetime.

I tell his full story in my book, Five Mere Christians, including the unforgettable account of the night he awoke to shouts of “Fire! Fire!” and bolted from bed. Despite everyone’s valiant attempts to douse the flames, the fire mercilessly laid claim to everything in Christiansen’s factory. The losses—from melted machinery to unshipped customer orders—far exceeded the company’s insurance policy. It would be a devastating blow even in the best of times, and 1942 was far from the best of times. Nazi Germany had invaded Denmark (and Christiansen’s own home) two years prior. Even food and basic commodities were hard to come by, much less the tools and resources needed to rebuild a toy factory.

Lying prostrate on his bedroom floor, Christiansen cried out to God. What happened next so surprised the overwhelmed business owner that he quickly recorded it in his personal journal: “I experienced something remarkable: the prayer became a thanks and a blessing for me. I was given invisible help. It was as though my difficulties were taken from me.”

Then, he stood up, went downstairs, and gathered his family and employees for a group photo in front of the charred remains of his workshop. Trusting that it wasn’t the end of the LEGO story but rather an opportunity for God to be glorified, Christiansen got to work. That very day, he helped his team search through the rubble for any salvageable toys that could be sold as a first step to recouping his losses. And over the coming months, he accrued the materials he needed to rebuild his factory.

When construction finally began that summer, Christiansen returned to his journal to submit his plans to the Lord, writing, “We have come to the result that without him we can do nothing…My prayer to the Lord for LEGO is that he will help us run a business that is honest in every way…so that our actions and our lives are lived in his honor.”

Christiansen experienced the truth in Jesus’s call in Matthew 11 when He said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus knows that we get stressed. So He calls us to come to Him in faith. To hand over our burdens. And, in turn, to receive rest. Not a passive rest, but an active relief. Relief that is activated by trust. Relief that then motivates us to live and work without worry, but with great freedom and boldness.

Each of us has been given unique work to do for the glory of God and the good of others. When we launch a new business, ship a product, create a piece of art, finish a presentation, or sweep a floor, we aren’t just doing a job—we are being God’s hands and feet at work in the world, serving the human community. But it is impossible for us to do our best, most creative work out of a place of fear and anxiety. I pray that as you pursue God’s wisdom for your work, you find the strength to confront your anxieties, cast them upon the Lord, and carry on in the work the Father created you to do with the utmost boldness!