Blessed is he who has work – provision and purpose are given in such. The teacher gives wisdom through the issue of challenge. The pupil grows to be a teacher through the answering of these. In work there are such challenges. By My hand they come, but disguised of the earth. In the labor of the day – the growth of My called. Do not perceive them separately, for the skill of the great worker, integral with the redeemed spirit within, is great pleasure to He who gives breath and life. As the father finds joy in the growth of his son, so too the Father to His own. Teaching always His ways in the place of labor, as also the home, both are provision of challenge that the redeemed may become light and salt, that the forgiven will go forth with skill to those who know only the darkness. Your place is by My hand for growth of both mind and soul; see it as such. Work is a Father’s gift to His children, that growth would come and then His glory given.

Proverbs 14:23 (ESV) – In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

Bottom Line: The environment where we live and work is the fertile ground God has given to us for our personal spiritual growth. We rejoice when the sun shines, and the rain dampens the earth where we are planted, but God’s real purpose for all of the sunshine and rain is to grow us, so we would be fruitful to those around us. We may focus on the corporate ladder and the size of our check, but He wants us bigger and better every year in much more meaningful ways. Our growth is what gives Him pleasure and glory, and the workplace is fertile ground for that growth.