Latest / Marriage Life and More and Bible Study / Work, Calling, and Shared Purpose (Marriage as a Mission) Pt 1 - 343

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Work, Calling, and Shared Purpose (Marriage as a Mission) Pt 1 - 343 · Marriage Life and More and Bible Study

0:06
Daniel Moore: Have you ever noticed how easy it is to act spiritual on Sunday and then completely lose your sanctification by Monday morning traffic?
0:14
Daniel Moore: I mean, one minute you're singing I surrender all in church, and the next minute you're gripping the steering wheel whispering, Lord, help me not to lay hands on this person in front of me.
0:23
Daniel Moore: Work has a funny way of exposing what's really inside of us.
0:27
Daniel Moore: Between difficult coworkers, endless emails, awkward staff meetings that should have lasted five minutes instead of 50, and try to figure out why the office printer only jams when you're already running late, it's easy to start viewing work as nothing more than survival.
0:41
Daniel Moore: But what if we've been looking at it all wrong?
0:43
Daniel Moore: What if your workplace is actually one of the greatest mission fields God has placed you in?
0:48
Daniel Moore: The truth is God never intended for our faith to stay inside church walls while the rest of our lives operate separately.
0:55
Daniel Moore: Scripture shows us over and over that God uses ordinary people in ordinary jobs to accomplish extraordinary kingdom purposes.
1:02
Daniel Moore: Whether you're managing a business, teaching students, changing diapers, answering phones, fixing cars, or simply trying to survive another Zoom meeting without muting the wrong microphone, your work matters to God.
1:14
Daniel Moore: In this week's episode, we're talking about what it really means to integrate faith and work, how our everyday faithfulness impacts not only our workplace but also our marriage, and why some of the holiest moments in life don't happen behind a pulpit.
1:27
Daniel Moore: They happen in the middle of ordinary routines when people choose to quietly honor God where they are.
1:32
Daniel Moore: Your job may sign your paycheck, but your calling is what gives your work eternal purpose.
1:38
Daniel Moore: Welcome to Marriage Life and More.
1:44
Daniel Moore: This is a podcast about marriage, Bible, and book studies, and we interview people that have inspiring stories.
1:49
Daniel Moore: I'm Daniel Moore, your host.
1:50
Daniel Moore: Over here next to me is my beautiful co-host, my wife Michelle.
1:53
Michelle Moore: Hey, hey.
1:54
Daniel Moore: Thank you guys for joining us this week.
1:55
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2:00
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2:14
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2:17
Daniel Moore: And we thank you in advance for doing that.
2:20
Daniel Moore: Well, over the last couple of weeks, as we continued our series on marriage as a mission, we talked about hospitality.
2:28
Daniel Moore: We talked about using our homes as a mission field, life groups, just all kinds of things about how our marriage integrates into our homes and how God gives us those blessings so that we can in turn be a blessing to other people.
2:42
Daniel Moore: Well, this week we're going to go off in a total different direction.
2:46
Daniel Moore: And it's a direction that a lot of people uh probably just don't look forward to.
2:51
Daniel Moore: That that Monday morning when you got to get up and go to work.
2:55
Daniel Moore: And we feel like that the work's just a grind.
2:58
Daniel Moore: And we know a lot of people are in jobs they don't enjoy.
3:01
Daniel Moore: Uh they don't look forward to Mondays.
3:03
Daniel Moore: They maybe hate the places that they work.
3:06
Daniel Moore: But the reality of it is the places that we work is also, whether if we like to look at it this way or not, our mission field.
3:13
Daniel Moore: Yep.
3:14
Daniel Moore: And so we're going to spend the at least the next couple of weeks here as we talk about work, calling, and shared purpose.
3:51
Michelle Moore: You're not alone.
3:52
Michelle Moore: Most of us have had seasons where we at work felt less like a calling and more like a never-ending cycle of meetings that could have been emails and emails that honestly should have just stayed drafts forever.
4:06
Michelle Moore: And let's admit it, sometimes the workplace can test your sanctification faster than a church business meeting.
4:15
Michelle Moore: There's the coworkers who replies all to everything, the boss with the oddly specific coffee order, the printer that jams only when you're already late, and the customer who just has that quick question right as you're heading out the door.
4:32
Michelle Moore: Yet, somewhere in the middle of all the chaos, God is present.
4:37
Michelle Moore: What if we misunderstood work altogether?
4:40
Michelle Moore: What if your job, even the one that feels ordinary, exhausting, or overlooked, is actually part of your divine calling.
4:51
Michelle Moore: That changes everything.
4:53
Michelle Moore: So many people separate faith from work as if ministry only happens behind a pulpit on a mission trip, or during worship night when the fog machine is working overtime and someone's holding a sustained keyboard cord in the background.
5:11
Michelle Moore: But the scripture paints a completely different picture.
5:14
Michelle Moore: God has always moved through ordinary people doing ordinary work with extraordinary faithfulness.
5:20
Michelle Moore: Think about it.
5:22
Michelle Moore: Before David was a king, he was faithfully tending sheep.
5:26
Michelle Moore: Before Paul preached to crowds, he made tents.
5:30
Michelle Moore: Noah built a boat long before anybody believed rain was even coming.
5:36
Michelle Moore: Even Jesus spent most of his earthly life working as a carpenter before beginning his public ministry.
5:44
Michelle Moore: Colossians 323 reminds us, whatever you do, work hardly as for the Lord and not for men.
5:53
Michelle Moore: Notice it doesn't say only if your job is spiritual.
5:57
Michelle Moore: It says whatever you do.
6:00
Michelle Moore: That means your spreadsheets matter, your teaching matters, your parenting matters, your construction work matters, your caregiving matters, and your customer service matters.
6:15
Michelle Moore: And yes, even surviving back-to-back Zoom meetings with a gracious attitude might qualify as a modern miracle.
6:26
Daniel Moore: So as we get started this week, I know that this is something, as we kind of mentioned here at the beginning, that we really just don't think about work being a place we need to be spiritual sometimes.
6:38
Daniel Moore: And I know also you have the situations where some people actually can get in trouble for talking, you know, about Jesus in their workplace.
6:47
Daniel Moore: Um you can definitely break the rules and lose your job.
6:51
Daniel Moore: Uh there's a lot of issues that you have to be careful with that as well.
6:55
Daniel Moore: But it doesn't mean that we still don't aren't living our testimony.
7:00
Michelle Moore: Right, right.
7:01
Daniel Moore: You know, and that other people are seeing that.
7:03
Daniel Moore: Um, you know, God doesn't only call people to platforms, he calls people to faithfulness.
7:08
Daniel Moore: That's the big thing that he expects from us.
7:11
Daniel Moore: You know, work was never meant to be merely a paycheck generator, it was designed to be partnership with God.
7:17
Daniel Moore: If you look at this from the very beginning in Genesis, before sin ever entered the world, Adam was given meaningful work in the garden.
7:24
Daniel Moore: Work itself was not the curse, the frustration surrounding it was.
7:29
Daniel Moore: And, you know, there's a difference between those two.
7:32
Daniel Moore: Sometimes we think purpose only arrives through dramatic moments, you know, like burning bushes or audible voices from heaven, giant revelations.
7:40
Daniel Moore: But more often than not, purpose quietly shows up disguised as consistency.
7:44
Daniel Moore: You know, it looks like showing kindness to a difficult coworker, choosing integrity when nobody's watching, refusing to gossip in the break room, serving people with excellence, even when you feel unnoticed, listening to someone who's silently carrying heavy burdens.
7:59
Daniel Moore: You know, those moments may never trend online, but heaven notices every single one of those.
8:05
Daniel Moore: You know, work is one of the places that we're going to spend a big portion of our lives.
8:12
Daniel Moore: And if you really think about it, you know, most people have a five-day work week at least.
8:18
Daniel Moore: Uh, some people have, you know, a little bit less than that, but they may work more hours within a day.
8:23
Daniel Moore: And some people work six days, some work seven days, some work a month, and then they get off for a couple.
8:28
Daniel Moore: There's so many different schedules out there.
8:30
Daniel Moore: But whenever we think about all of that, no matter what your scenario is, the reality of it is you spend a big portion of your life with your coworkers.
8:41
Michelle Moore: I know that a lot of times when I was working, we always used to tease each other about, you know, they're my work family because I spend more time with them than I do my own family.
8:53
Daniel Moore: Yep.
8:53
Michelle Moore: And, you know, you always pray for a great group of people that you can be with daily.
8:58
Michelle Moore: And I'm so thankful.
9:00
Michelle Moore: I've had some really good, great co-workers.
9:03
Daniel Moore: And, you know, myself, I used to be on the fire department and we worked 24 hours off 48.
9:09
Daniel Moore: So if you do the math on that, if I stay there from the time I started till I retire, I literally am spending a third of my life at my job.
9:19
Daniel Moore: And so that means, you know, all them guys that I worked with, those 24-hour shifts, the same situation, they became like my family because they probably in a lot of ways knew as much as the spouses do about you because there's so much sharing, there's so much time there just to sit around and talk and you know, be best friends with each other and lean on each other's shoulder and depend you do depend on each other as a firefighter.
9:45
Daniel Moore: Uh they have your life in your their hands sometimes.
9:48
Daniel Moore: And so it's a whole different scenario.
9:50
Daniel Moore: Um, there was kind of a bad side to that to that also, because there is a high divorce rate uh being a firefighter just because they are away from their family so much, but it it doesn't negate the fact that no matter whether if it's a time a job that you're at there at a lot of time or if you don't have a whole lot of time spent there, the process is still the same.
10:12
Michelle Moore: Right.
10:13
Daniel Moore: It is a ministry field, it's a place that we can show Jesus.
10:16
Daniel Moore: And the next point there, your workplace may not always feel holy, but God still does his work there.
10:24
Daniel Moore: And that is so true.
10:26
Daniel Moore: Uh, the fact that, you know, our job may not, it we may just be turning wrenches and getting greasy all day, you know.
10:33
Daniel Moore: Uh might be at the chicken farms cleaning the manure out.
10:36
Daniel Moore: There may be some really dirty jobs that people are involved in, and you think, well, how in the world can this be a a gift from God?
10:45
Daniel Moore: You know, yeah.
10:46
Daniel Moore: It's probably one of those jobs you're trying to get out of, probably.
10:49
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
10:50
Daniel Moore: But honestly, it doesn't matter where you are, God can use any of that for his glory.
10:56
Daniel Moore: You're right.
10:57
Daniel Moore: And if you want to, go ahead and there's a scripture there, share that scripture with us and the notes there.
11:02
Michelle Moore: Ephesians 2 10 says, We are created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand.
11:09
Michelle Moore: That means your life is not random, and neither is the place where you spend most of your waking hours.
11:16
Michelle Moore: Sometimes married couples especially struggle here because work can either unite a marriage or slowly drain it.
11:23
Michelle Moore: One spouse may feel overwhelmed while the other feels underappreciated.
11:28
Michelle Moore: One may come home wanting to talk while the other just wants ten minutes of silence and a snack.
11:34
Michelle Moore: And somehow every married couple eventually has a classic interaction.
11:40
Michelle Moore: Like, for example, how was your day?
11:42
Michelle Moore: Fine?
11:44
Michelle Moore: Just fine?
11:45
Michelle Moore: Yes?
11:46
Michelle Moore: You seem upset, I'm not upset.
11:49
Michelle Moore: Okay, now I know you're upset.
11:52
Michelle Moore: Marriage has a funny way of exposing how differently two people process stress and responsibility.
11:59
Michelle Moore: But one of the healthiest things couples can do is begin seeing each other's work through the lens of the purpose instead of the pressure.
12:07
Michelle Moore: Husbands need encouragement and wives need appreciation, but both need grace.
12:13
Michelle Moore: And sometimes the greatest ministry in marriage is simply understanding that your spouse may be carrying burdens you cannot immediately see.
12:22
Michelle Moore: That's the thing.
12:29
Daniel Moore: I know you being an auditor at a bank, there's moments that you have some easy days and it's not too bad, but then you have your crunch times.
12:38
Daniel Moore: And those are the times you have a lot of higher-up people putting high expectations on you.
12:44
Daniel Moore: They're wanting some good looking reports coming across their desk, and they want you got to make sure all those numbers are right and all that stuff's taking place.
12:53
Daniel Moore: And how much pressure does that put on you?
12:55
Michelle Moore: At times a lot.
12:56
Daniel Moore: I mean, I I can tell when you come home that you'll have a lot of migraines.
13:02
Daniel Moore: I mean, there's just a lot of stuff that happens.
13:04
Daniel Moore: And honestly, as spouses, we need to know how to navigate that because sometimes if our other if our spouses had a pretty rough day at work, but ours was kind of just slid right on by and it was pretty easy.
13:17
Daniel Moore: Uh, you know, we get home, we may have we may be in one mood, but our spouse is in another mood, and that could create a situation we could cross each other pretty quick and you know have some issues.
13:27
Michelle Moore: And I know sometimes like if your spouse truly like knows how you are, like I put a lot of pressure upon myself to make sure that, you know, if I'm doing my job, I'm doing it great.
13:37
Michelle Moore: And, you know, I look at that and I can overlook, I can almost stress myself.
13:42
Michelle Moore: Well, I do stress myself out, just making sure that my job is done when I know I did my job.
13:47
Michelle Moore: Right.
13:48
Michelle Moore: But I want to make sure.
13:49
Michelle Moore: But you know how I am.
13:51
Michelle Moore: So it's like, you know that I put so much pressure and stress on myself, not just from the little stress I was handed to, but you're you're very encouraging, like you got this, you know, you don't you're you're doing great.
14:06
Michelle Moore: And I'm very thankful for that because you know my job requires a lot at that time, but I also require a lot from myself.
14:14
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
14:14
Daniel Moore: And just imagine if you're in that situation, all that stress is there, the headaches, trying to meet those time frames, those deadlines.
14:23
Daniel Moore: It's real easy to forget that God put me in this.
14:27
Daniel Moore: You know?
14:28
Michelle Moore: It is.
14:28
Daniel Moore: It's very difficult to really think about it that way.
14:31
Daniel Moore: You're thinking about if I can only make it through the end of this week, I'm gonna be lucky.
14:36
Michelle Moore: We're just the end of the day.
14:38
Daniel Moore: End of the day, if I can just survive.
14:39
Daniel Moore: And you know, a lot of times we try to do all of that on our own and we don't even ask God to come and help us in those stressful moments, you know.
14:46
Michelle Moore: That's a very good point.
14:47
Daniel Moore: Um, so it's just this is a good reminder, I think, as we go through this episode, just to reflect a little bit on our jobs and you know, whether if we hate our job or not, it is a blessing from God.
15:00
Daniel Moore: Yeah, it pays the bills, it helps us sustain our families and the things that we own.
15:06
Daniel Moore: Uh, there's a lot of reward for the work, but everybody gets to that reward a little differently, you know.
15:13
Daniel Moore: Uh, we got to remember that a paycheck may provide for the home, but purpose brings life to it.
15:20
Daniel Moore: It's important to remember the success in God's kingdom looks very different from success in the world.
15:25
Daniel Moore: Culture tells us success is visibility, status, promotions, followers, and climbing higher.
15:30
Daniel Moore: But Jesus modeled something completely different.
15:33
Daniel Moore: He modeled servanthood.
15:35
Daniel Moore: In Mark 10, 45, Jesus said he came not to be served, but to serve.
15:40
Daniel Moore: You know, imagine how differently we would approach our jobs if we viewed work less as an obligation and more as an offering back to God.
15:49
Daniel Moore: What if today's assignment was heaven sent?
15:51
Daniel Moore: What if excellence became worship?
15:54
Daniel Moore: What if patience with people became ministry?
15:57
Daniel Moore: And what if your workplace became a mission filled disguised as a cubicle?
16:01
Daniel Moore: Suddenly, what you consider to be ordinary and mundane, all of a sudden it becomes sacred.
16:07
Daniel Moore: And let's not forget, God absolutely has a sense of humor.
16:10
Daniel Moore: You cannot convince me otherwise after looking at a like a duck-billed platypus or trying to understand why couples can never agree on thermostat settings.
16:19
Daniel Moore: One spouse is sleeping under three blankets while the other has the ceiling fan on in December, claiming it's not even cold in here.
16:26
Michelle Moore: That is so you and I.
16:28
Michelle Moore: Which one would I be?
16:30
Daniel Moore: Uh the three blankets.
16:31
Daniel Moore: Under the blankets.
16:33
Michelle Moore: Except for when I have the hot flash.
16:35
Daniel Moore: So we know that God has some humor.
16:37
Daniel Moore: Yes.
16:38
Daniel Moore: And, you know, life and work, they require a little bit of humor sometimes, also.
16:42
Daniel Moore: You know, that embarrassing typo and the company-wide email, that's humility training.
16:47
Daniel Moore: That awkward conversation with your boss, that's character development.
16:51
Daniel Moore: That season where nothing seems glamorous or exciting, that's spiritual endurance training.
16:57
Daniel Moore: Romans 8 28 reminds us that God works all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose, not some things.
17:04
Daniel Moore: That scripture says all things, even the frustrating things, the hidden things, and even the ordinary things.
17:11
Daniel Moore: If we keep all of that in perspective and we try to focus on the good side of the bad things that we consider our jobs to be, and understand that regardless of what we go through, God has us in that place during that season for a reason and he will sustain us.
17:30
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
17:30
Daniel Moore: If that is the case.
17:31
Daniel Moore: If we truly believe that the blessings we have from God, you know, the paychecks, the financial stability, uh, the ability to just, you know, give back to the church and to support ministry, that all comes from having a job.
17:44
Daniel Moore: And God does put us in those places sometimes for a reason if we just look for it and try to figure out what that is.
17:51
Daniel Moore: And the next point is very important about this.
17:54
Daniel Moore: Go ahead and share it with us.
17:56
Michelle Moore: Purpose is rarely found in the spectacular.
17:59
Michelle Moore: It's usually discovered in daily faithfulness.
18:02
Michelle Moore: This is why we must stop viewing work as secular while only labeling church activity as sacred.
18:11
Michelle Moore: God is not confined to sanctuaries.
18:14
Michelle Moore: He moves through classrooms, offices, kitchens, job sites, hospitals, farms, warehouse, and living rooms full of toys that somehow multiply overnight.
18:27
Michelle Moore: Especially for married couples, reclaiming a biblical view of work changes the atmosphere of the home.
18:35
Michelle Moore: Instead of competing over who's more tired, you begin championing one another's calling instead of resenting responsibility.
18:44
Michelle Moore: You begin recognizing divine assignment.
18:47
Michelle Moore: And for stay-at-home parents who sometimes feel unseen or overlooked, never underestimate the internal impact of what you do.
18:58
Michelle Moore: Shaping hearts, building a home, creating stability, praying over children, loving faithfully in hidden places, that matters deeply to God.
19:10
Michelle Moore: Some of the most kingdom impacting work on earth never receives applauses.
19:16
Michelle Moore: Heaven measures significance differently than the world does.
19:22
Michelle Moore: So whether you're behind a desk, under the hood of a car, teaching students, leading meetings, answering phones, managing a business, building homes, serving customers, or wrangling toddlers who somehow have endless energy before 7 a.m.
19:41
Michelle Moore: Remember this.
19:42
Michelle Moore: You're not just showing up for a paycheck.
19:45
Michelle Moore: You are stepping into a purpose.
19:48
Michelle Moore: You are partnering with God.
19:50
Michelle Moore: You are representing Christ through everyday faithfulness.
19:55
Michelle Moore: And there is absolutely nothing ordinary about that.
19:59
Michelle Moore: When you surrender your work to God, even the ordinary becomes eternal.
20:07
Daniel Moore: And I kind of like that the a lot sometimes our jobs seem boring and they seem ordinary.
20:13
Daniel Moore: We don't really feel like, especially factory work probably would be a good example of that.
20:18
Daniel Moore: Uh you're kind of repetitive.
20:19
Daniel Moore: You know, if you're on one of those assembly lines where you put the same screw in day after day after day for eight, ten, twelve hours, I can see why you would think, what is the purpose of this?
20:31
Daniel Moore: You know, I'm like, I'm not getting anywhere with any of this.
20:34
Daniel Moore: Yeah, I'm part of an assembly line, I'm putting a screw in this, you know, big deal.
20:38
Daniel Moore: But we have to look at it beyond that because what we always look at sometimes is ordinary, what we look at as just uh the regular, you know, thing that happens all the time that that's meaningless.
20:52
Daniel Moore: God looks at that a little differently.
20:54
Daniel Moore: He looks at that as an opportunity and he's in instills inside of us to look for opportunities in those moments to further the kingdom and to spread the gospel.
21:05
Daniel Moore: And so we should always be looking towards those things and understand that anything that happens throughout the day, whether if it's an assignment that has taken place, um, whether if it's something that requires patience, whatever it may be, uh there's probably a reason.
21:22
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
21:22
Michelle Moore: That's it.
21:23
Daniel Moore: And even though we may not see it right at that moment, it may come to play, it could be days, weeks, or months before you see what was going on that day.
21:31
Daniel Moore: But there may have been a purpose behind that, and it's probably helped someone possibly.
21:36
Michelle Moore: And I think sometimes we need to be thoughtful of what God is doing in those moments.
21:45
Michelle Moore: You know, if you really think about it, when something happens, we're not immediately thinking, okay, God, what purpose do you have in this?
21:51
Michelle Moore: I mean, a lot of times it's like, oh crap, this happened, you know.
21:54
Michelle Moore: And like you don't really think much into it.
21:56
Michelle Moore: But I think, you know, if we really start thinking like, What was the purpose of this, God?
22:01
Michelle Moore: Um, you know, what are you trying to teach me?
22:04
Michelle Moore: Or is there something I missed?
22:06
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
22:07
Michelle Moore: And bringing it back to God, I think it would help us in the long run as well.
22:11
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
22:11
Daniel Moore: We've always we always got to think a little ahead on some of that stuff.
22:15
Daniel Moore: That's very good, very valid point.
22:17
Daniel Moore: As we continue on here, we're going to talk a little bit about integrating faith and work.
22:21
Daniel Moore: And this is a tricky place that we have to navigate sometimes.
22:25
Daniel Moore: You know, one of the biggest mistakes many Christians make is believing there's a line separating church life from real life.
22:31
Daniel Moore: We tend to think God only moves during Sunday worship, Bible studies, mission trips, and those emotional altar moments where the keyboard player somehow knows exactly when to hit the soft piano chords.
22:42
Daniel Moore: But the truth is, God never intended for our faith to stay inside church walls.
22:46
Daniel Moore: He wants it woven into every part of our lives, including our jobs, careers, workplaces, and daily responsibilities.
22:53
Daniel Moore: And honestly, that changes the way that we can look at Monday mornings.
22:57
Daniel Moore: Because, you know, if we look at it in an honest way, sometimes work can feel less like a calling and more like survival.
23:04
Daniel Moore: I mean, you wake up already tired, your coffee hasn't kicked in yet, your spouse is asking where their keys are while holding the keys in their hand, and somehow you're already emotionally exhausted before it's 8 a.m.
23:16
Daniel Moore: Then you get to work only to discover that the printer is jammed again.
23:19
Daniel Moore: Somebody scheduled a quote unquote quick meeting that lasts an hour and 15 minutes, and your coworker replies all to every email like it's their spiritual gift.
23:28
Daniel Moore: But you know, even in all of that chaos, God is still present in the middle of all of that.
23:34
Daniel Moore: Our workplace is not separate from our calling.
23:37
Daniel Moore: It's often the place where our calling is revealed.
23:40
Daniel Moore: From the very beginning of Scripture, we see that work was never meant to be meaningless.
23:45
Daniel Moore: You know, Genesis chapter 2, verse 15 says the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
23:51
Daniel Moore: That means work existed before sin entered the world.
23:54
Daniel Moore: Work itself wasn't the curse.
23:57
Daniel Moore: Frustration, exhaustion, and toil became part of the curse after the fall.
24:01
Daniel Moore: There's a big difference between those two.
24:04
Daniel Moore: God created us with purpose.
24:07
Daniel Moore: He designed us to create, build, serve, lead, help, and steward responsibilities in ways that glorify Him.
24:14
Daniel Moore: That means whether you're leading a company, fixing vehicles, teaching children, answering phones, managing finances, running a business, or raising kids at home while stepping on Legos barefoot in the hallway, you are still operating a meaningful work.
24:27
Daniel Moore: And for married couples, this perspective matters deeply because when we stop seeing work as just a job, we also stop seeing our spouse as just stressed or just busy.
24:39
Daniel Moore: Instead, we begin recognizing that both husband and wife are carrying responsibilities, pressures, spiritual battles, and opportunities to represent Christ every single day.
24:48
Daniel Moore: So that should change the way we encourage each other, the way we pray for each other, and the way we come home to each other.
24:54
Daniel Moore: And I think that if, you know, us as spouses, we talked a little bit about this, you know, earlier, you know, when you come home, I can tell what mood you're in.
25:03
Daniel Moore: And I can kind of tell if it's been a good day or a bad day.
25:06
Daniel Moore: And I think you can probably tell the same with me.
25:08
Daniel Moore: And so that first interaction that you and I have when we both walk in the door, I think should kind of set the tone for how do we need to communicate this evening.
25:19
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
25:19
Daniel Moore: You know, and we know each other well enough that we know if one of us needs encouragement.
25:24
Daniel Moore: We know if one of us, you know, needs uh to be able to talk and just to let let some things out, let off some steam, I guess is the way to put it.
25:32
Michelle Moore: That's a good way to put it, actually.
25:33
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
25:33
Michelle Moore: Let off some steam.
25:35
Daniel Moore: And, you know, or maybe some great stuff happened to you at work today and you're just excited to share it, you know.
25:40
Daniel Moore: Um when it's when we first walk into our door or when we both get home, or if it's a one spouse working and the other one's a stay-at-home parent, uh, whatever it may be, as soon as the two of you see each other for the first time at the end of that work day, uh, the way you show up in that moment is going to determine, you know, the rest of your evening and how all of that's going to play out, you know, after that.
26:04
Daniel Moore: Uh let's go ahead and continue here, and I'll let you go ahead and share the next point here.
26:29
Michelle Moore: Yeah, a strong marriage is built when two people stop competing over exhaustion and start supporting each other's purposes.
26:37
Michelle Moore: Colossians 3, 2324 says, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for human masters.
26:48
Michelle Moore: Notice scripture says, Whatever you do, not only ministry, not only church work, not only spiritual jobs.
26:59
Michelle Moore: Whatever you do, that means the mechanic honoring God through honesty is worship.
27:07
Michelle Moore: The nurse showing compassion is worship.
27:10
Michelle Moore: The father working hard to provide is worship.
27:14
Michelle Moore: The mother caring faithfully for her family is worship.
27:19
Michelle Moore: That employee choosing integrity when nobody is watching is worship.
27:24
Michelle Moore: When our attitude changes, our work becomes an offering to God instead of just an obligation we tolerate.
27:32
Michelle Moore: And honestly, the world desperately needs believers who live out their faith consistently in everyday environments.
27:41
Michelle Moore: Matthew 5, 14 through 16 reminds us that we are called to be the light of the world.
27:49
Michelle Moore: Most people won't walk into a church before they first watch how a Christian lives.
27:54
Michelle Moore: They watch how we respond under pressure, how we handle the conflict, and how we handle difficult people and treat them, and how we react when things don't go our way.
28:07
Michelle Moore: Because anybody can talk about Jesus when life is easy.
28:11
Michelle Moore: But people notice when someone carries peace in difficult environments.
28:17
Michelle Moore: Daniel is one of the greatest biblical examples of this.
28:21
Michelle Moore: He worked in a pagan culture under ungodly leadership.
28:25
Michelle Moore: Daniel 6.4 says they could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt.
28:32
Michelle Moore: Daniel didn't separate his faith from his work.
28:36
Michelle Moore: He carried his faith into his work, and eventually his influence pointed entire kingdoms toward God, and that still happens today.
28:47
Daniel Moore: And there's a good point there that was made whenever uh that last paragraph there, Daniel didn't separate his faith from his work.
28:55
Daniel Moore: He carried his faith into his work.
28:58
Daniel Moore: And I really like how that sounds because whenever we go to work sometimes, especially if we are working in a very ungodly environment, we do have a tendency, I think, sometimes to leave our faith at the door and we just perform and do our thing that we're supposed to do for eight hours and then we go home.
29:20
Daniel Moore: How much better would it be if we took our faith into that environment and tried to change the atmosphere?
29:27
Daniel Moore: You know, I think that might work even better.
29:30
Daniel Moore: And I actually have a little personal example of here that kind of goes along that line.
29:35
Daniel Moore: You know, I used to work at a salvage yard years ago.
29:39
Daniel Moore: Um I spent about nine years there.
29:41
Daniel Moore: And to say it was a rough environment would be an understatement.
29:44
Daniel Moore: You know, most of the men there were tough, gritty, hard-living guys.
29:47
Daniel Moore: We called them grease monkeys.
29:49
Daniel Moore: Um, they, you know, tore cars apart and grease and all that good stuff that guys sometimes like to do.
29:55
Daniel Moore: Well, foul language also filled the workplace constantly.
29:58
Daniel Moore: Crude conversations were normal and inappropriate material circulated around like it was just part of the culture.
30:04
Daniel Moore: And you know what I'm talking about with that.
30:05
Daniel Moore: This pornography and all that kind of thing.
30:08
Daniel Moore: A lot of that kind of stuff was just normal there.
30:11
Daniel Moore: Well, when I first started, I stood out immediately, not because I was perfect, but because I simply chose not to participate in things like that that dishonored God.
30:20
Daniel Moore: But you know, at that at that time, I didn't preach at people constantly.
30:23
Daniel Moore: I didn't act self-righteous, I didn't condemn everyone around me.
30:26
Daniel Moore: I just quietly lived differently.
30:28
Daniel Moore: I worked hard, I treated people respectfully, I stayed away from the gossip, and I tried to live my faith consistently.
30:34
Daniel Moore: Well, at first, you know, people didn't know what to think about me, I'm sure, in some situations, but over time something interesting happened.
30:41
Daniel Moore: The same men who once tested boundaries around me slowly began respecting the way that I lived.
30:46
Daniel Moore: Eventually, many of them would avoid certain conversations around me altogether, and it wasn't because I demanded it, but because they recognized there was something different in my life.
30:56
Daniel Moore: And the important thing with all of that is that influence often happens slowly and quietly.
31:01
Daniel Moore: You know, most of the time we don't realize the seeds that we're planting while we're planting them.
31:06
Daniel Moore: And we also, a lot of times, we may never fully know the impact of our quiet faithfulness until eternity reveals it.
31:13
Daniel Moore: Well, years after leaving LKQ, the salvage yard, I received a phone call that I'll never forget.
31:18
Daniel Moore: You know, one of the guys that I considered to be one of the toughest looking guys there that I'd worked with, he called me during a major family crisis.
31:27
Daniel Moore: And this was a man who carried strength on the outside, but underneath it was, you know, hurting him very deeply.
31:33
Daniel Moore: And in that desperate moment, he remembered me.
31:35
Daniel Moore: Not because I preached sermons at work, not because I acted spiritually superior, but because I had simply tried to live faithfully in front of him.
31:42
Daniel Moore: He asked me to pray for him and his family, and I did.
31:46
Daniel Moore: And not long afterward, he gave his life to Christ and started attending church faithfully where he lived.
31:51
Daniel Moore: His entire life began changing because God used a seed planted years earlier in a difficult workplace.
31:58
Daniel Moore: And to this day, that humbles me deeply because, you know, I am very far from perfect.
32:03
Daniel Moore: Michelle will vouch for that.
32:04
Daniel Moore: I am not perfect.
32:06
Daniel Moore: But I've, you know, I've had struggles, I've made mistakes, and I still need God's grace every single day.
32:12
Daniel Moore: There's moments I failed, there's moments I got frustrated, there's moments I didn't always reflect Christ the way I should have.
32:19
Daniel Moore: But that's what makes God's grace so incredible.
32:22
Daniel Moore: He doesn't wait for perfect people before he uses them.
32:25
Daniel Moore: Right.
32:26
Daniel Moore: And you know, I I love I've shared this story with several, and you know, the guy that I'm talking about, they still attend church very regularly.
32:35
Daniel Moore: They got baptized.
32:36
Daniel Moore: Uh-huh.
32:36
Daniel Moore: I mean, they've came to our church for Christmas program and different things.
32:40
Daniel Moore: Sweet people.
32:41
Daniel Moore: Yes, I I mean, he me and him, I always got along with him anyway.
32:45
Daniel Moore: And that's another point.
32:46
Daniel Moore: You know, all the guys that I worked with there, we were really good friends.
32:50
Daniel Moore: I mean, they respected me.
32:52
Daniel Moore: I respected them.
32:54
Daniel Moore: Uh, we all got along great.
32:56
Daniel Moore: You know, they just some of the stuff that they participated in, they just went ahead and respected my feelings about that and kept it away from me.
33:05
Daniel Moore: Now they still had language around me and stuff like that.
33:08
Daniel Moore: And so be it.
33:09
Daniel Moore: You know, that's that's just something between them and God.
33:12
Daniel Moore: God will convict that, you know, in due time if they give their lives to Him or whatever.
33:16
Daniel Moore: Um, but we just we had some really good friendships.
33:19
Daniel Moore: And, you know, I never really thought of anything coming out of any of that until that day he called.
33:25
Daniel Moore: And that really opened my eyes and made me realize, because I had when I was at the fire department, it was kind of the same environment, but I was not an example there.
33:35
Daniel Moore: Matter of fact, I let it change me.
33:36
Daniel Moore: I went through a divorce there.
33:38
Daniel Moore: Um, I had language, I kind of just joined the crowd.
33:41
Daniel Moore: And, you know, I look back at that and I feel bad about that time in my life because there could have been times there that I could have made a difference in someone's life, but I wasn't even living how I should have to be an example in testimony.
33:55
Daniel Moore: And so I was not the light in that darkness at that time.
33:59
Daniel Moore: And that's that's some things I regret from back then.
34:02
Daniel Moore: So you never know when you may make a difference in someone's life somewhere down the road, and it may be years down the road.
34:10
Daniel Moore: But if you live your life correctly in the way God wants you to in that moment, and you shine that light like He wants you to, you're gonna have probably a testimony come out of it somewhere.
34:19
Michelle Moore: That's good.
34:20
Michelle Moore: So I always enjoy when you talk about that because I can remember the day you came home and you said, You're never gonna believe who called me.
34:27
Michelle Moore: And I was like, Who?
34:28
Michelle Moore: And then you told me, and I was like, wow, that is so awesome.
34:32
Michelle Moore: And we begin praying.
34:34
Michelle Moore: And you know, you prayed more than about the situation than I did, and I can still remember, you know, when you called me and told me that, you know, he was going to church and being safe.
34:43
Michelle Moore: It was just like it it's rewarding for a wife to see your husband stand firm and to go into an atmosphere like that and stay firm through all that, and then to see it's almost gonna make me cry because from where we were at to where we are today, and to see you stand firm in that and to be a witness not even realizing that you were a witness, and to help someone see that, hey, I can go to him for prayer.
35:13
Michelle Moore: Yeah, and know that you're gonna pray.
35:16
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
35:16
Michelle Moore: And to see the family change over time.
35:19
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
35:19
Michelle Moore: I mean, it's very rewarding to me as a wife to see that and that impact that you have ch you know created and your walk with the Lord.
35:29
Daniel Moore: Well, what's crazy is when I saw that phone ring, because I I had his number in my phone.
35:33
Daniel Moore: So as soon as he called, I saw his name.
35:35
Daniel Moore: I own a computer business also.
35:38
Daniel Moore: The first thing I thought was, oh, you've got a computer needs work on, you know.
35:42
Daniel Moore: That's what everybody knows me as that are, you know, co-workers or whatever.
35:46
Daniel Moore: And I've worked on his computers before.
35:48
Daniel Moore: And so when I answered the phone, that's what I was expecting.
35:51
Daniel Moore: I was he caught me totally off guard with that.
35:54
Daniel Moore: I never in my dreams would have ever thought that someone from that job would have ever called me and asked me to pray for something for them.
36:02
Daniel Moore: That was it was a wake-up call.
36:04
Daniel Moore: It really opened my eyes to a lot of things when that happened.
36:07
Daniel Moore: Because I think at that moment I hadn't really realized up till then just what kind of an impact you can really have in an environment like that.
36:15
Daniel Moore: And now I know.
36:16
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
36:16
Daniel Moore: And so I don't take any of that with a grain of salt.
36:19
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
36:20
Daniel Moore: And hopefully that example's good for anybody listening right now in whatever situation you're in, because there's a lot of ungodly workplaces out there.
36:27
Michelle Moore: Absolutely.
36:27
Daniel Moore: You know, there's a ton of them, and a lot of you work in them.
36:31
Daniel Moore: And so, you know, that's just hopefully something to inspire you and encourage you just a little bit.
36:36
Daniel Moore: So we're about to wrap up here.
36:38
Daniel Moore: Go ahead and share this next part.
36:39
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
36:39
Michelle Moore: God is not looking for flawless people, He's looking for faithful and available hearts.
36:45
Michelle Moore: Sometimes we assume God only uses pastors, missionaries, worship leaders, or people with dramatic testimonies.
36:53
Michelle Moore: But scripture repeatedly shows God using ordinary people who simply remained obedient where they were planted.
37:01
Michelle Moore: That means your consistency matters, your integrity matters, your kindness matters, and your attitude matters, especially in your marriage.
37:11
Michelle Moore: Because one of the greatest testimonies a couple can have is consistency between Sunday and Monday.
37:17
Michelle Moore: Anybody can raise their hands and worship at church, but the real challenge comes when you're both tired, stressed, when the bills are due.
37:26
Michelle Moore: One spouse misunderstood the other's text message completely.
37:30
Michelle Moore: And now somehow a discussion about groceries has turned into a two-hour emotional summit meeting.
37:36
Michelle Moore: Marriage has a funny way of exposing every weakness in communication.
37:40
Michelle Moore: Again, one spouse says, I'm fine.
37:44
Michelle Moore: The other spouse immediately thinks that's impossible.
37:47
Michelle Moore: Nobody's fine.
37:48
Michelle Moore: And actually means fine.
37:51
Michelle Moore: And somehow you both end up apologizing for things neither of you fully understood in the first place.
37:58
Michelle Moore: But that's where grace enters.
38:00
Michelle Moore: Ephesians 4 2 tells us to walk with humility, gentleness, patience, and love.
38:08
Michelle Moore: Those qualities matter in a marriage, but they also matter at work.
38:13
Michelle Moore: That same grace-like character we need in our homes is the same character we need in our workplaces.
38:21
Michelle Moore: Because ultimately, integrating faith and work isn't about acting religious.
38:27
Michelle Moore: It's about reflecting Jesus consistently.
38:30
Michelle Moore: It's about realizing that every environment becomes an opportunity for kingdom impact.
38:37
Michelle Moore: Your office can be the mission field.
38:39
Michelle Moore: Your job site can become a ministry.
38:42
Michelle Moore: Your home can become a testimony.
38:45
Michelle Moore: However, your daily life can become living evidence of God's grace.
38:50
Michelle Moore: And often the loudest sermon you'll ever preach is simply the life you quietly live.
38:58
Daniel Moore: So we see there's a common denominator going on here.
39:02
Daniel Moore: As we talk about this marriage is a mission thing, we talk about stewardship, we talk about the purpose God has put into all of our lives as spouses.
39:11
Daniel Moore: Um, we see how this really intertwines in so much in everything that we're involved in.
39:19
Daniel Moore: And you know, what's crazy to me is, you know, there's a there's a day back when that I separated all of this.
39:25
Daniel Moore: I didn't really think work had much to do with my marriage or that marriage had much to do with I'd agree with that hospitality at my house or the myself included in that.
39:34
Daniel Moore: Yeah, it's like you separate all those things and you don't understand that this is one big huge puzzle.
39:40
Daniel Moore: These little pieces are keep getting put together, and the more right pieces you find that fit in the right spots, it starts creating this big huge picture.
39:48
Michelle Moore: Well, you may not just as you say, you may not understand it.
39:51
Michelle Moore: Sometimes we just don't even recognize it.
39:53
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
39:53
Michelle Moore: As a Christian, we just don't put these together.
39:56
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
39:56
Daniel Moore: We look at it just as an everyday thing that we go through.
40:01
Michelle Moore: And I never would have thought of this.
40:03
Daniel Moore: Yeah, it's it's amazing how all this goes together.
40:05
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
40:06
Daniel Moore: Next week when we come back, we'll be finishing this one up on our workplace.
40:10
Daniel Moore: Anything that you'd like to add to this week's episode?
40:12
Michelle Moore: No, it's so good.
40:14
Daniel Moore: I think that hopefully this week's open some eyes, you know.
40:17
Michelle Moore: I always love hearing that story about you and Charlie.
40:19
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
40:20
Daniel Moore: We love it.
40:21
Daniel Moore: I love sharing it.
40:22
Daniel Moore: He's he's an awesome great guy.
40:24
Daniel Moore: Him and his wife and their whole family, they're just great people.
40:27
Daniel Moore: And I just I'm so thankful.
40:30
Daniel Moore: I mean, and it's it's nothing about me.
40:32
Daniel Moore: I'm not tooting my horn at all.
40:34
Daniel Moore: Um, I'm I am thankful that I stayed the path.
40:37
Daniel Moore: I'm so thankful for that because I am not perfect.
40:40
Daniel Moore: I'm I messed up a lot all the time.
40:42
Daniel Moore: And I've messed up a lot in the past.
40:44
Michelle Moore: Well, I think about how many times you wanted to quit that job.
40:46
Daniel Moore: Oh, I know.
40:47
Michelle Moore: That God didn't allow it.
40:48
Daniel Moore: Yeah, it's a it's a job I didn't like.
40:50
Michelle Moore: No.
40:50
Daniel Moore: Necessarily.
40:51
Michelle Moore: And and let me tell you, it was a filler job.
40:53
Michelle Moore: It was something he struggled going into every day.
40:56
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
40:56
Michelle Moore: But there was a purpose in it.
40:58
Daniel Moore: Yep.
40:59
Michelle Moore: And that purpose came years later.
41:01
Daniel Moore: And I think this part of this book here, I think, has kind of came from some lessons I learned in all of that.
41:06
Daniel Moore: So good.
41:08
Michelle Moore: So good, babe.
41:09
Daniel Moore: So yeah, so people may forget your words, but they will remember the consistency of your character.
41:14
Daniel Moore: So wherever God has planted you right now, whether it's an office, a classroom, a construction site, a factory, a repair shop, a hospital, or a home full of laundry baskets and loud toddlers, never underestimate what God can do through simple faithfulness because eternity is often shaped through ordinary moments.
41:32
Daniel Moore: And sometimes the greatest kingdom impact begins with nothing more than one person deciding I'm going to honor God or I am.com to find out everything about our ministry.
42:04
Daniel Moore: We have resources there, which you can contact us.
42:08
Daniel Moore: Uh the different things that we offer as a ministry, you can also check those out there at the website as well.
42:13
Daniel Moore: And of course, don't forget to subscribe to these episodes so that you don't miss them because we have tons of good things coming your way here in the future.
42:20
Daniel Moore: We're getting into some really good episodes here shortly that's left in this series.
42:24
Daniel Moore: I mean, a lot of them have been really good already, but we've got some other ones coming up here that I'm really excited about.
42:30
Daniel Moore: So uh you don't want to miss any of that.
42:32
Daniel Moore: So make sure you subscribe and share.
42:34
Daniel Moore: And that way you don't miss any of that.
42:36
Daniel Moore: Well, at the end of the day, integrating faith and work is really about understanding that God never asked us to live divided lives.
42:43
Daniel Moore: He never intended for us to worship him on Sunday and then completely disconnect from him Monday through Friday.
42:49
Daniel Moore: Your workplace, your responsibilities, your routines, and even the ordinary moments of your day are all opportunities to reflect Christ.
42:56
Daniel Moore: The way you handle pressure, treat difficult people, respond to stress, honor your commitments, and carry integrity when nobody's watching says more about your faith than a thousand social media posts ever could.
43:08
Daniel Moore: And for married couples, this matters even more because your home becomes a training ground for how you live out your faith everywhere else.
43:16
Daniel Moore: The grace you show your spouse, the encouragement you give after a hard work day, the patience you extend when tensions are high, and the way you support each other's calling all become part of your testimony.
43:27
Daniel Moore: Sometimes the greatest ministry isn't found on a stage, it's found in two people choosing to honor God together in everyday life.
43:35
Daniel Moore: So as we close this week's episode, maybe the real question isn't, do I have a meaningful job?
43:41
Daniel Moore: Maybe the better question is, am I allowing God to use me meaningfully where I already am?
43:47
Daniel Moore: Whether you're leading a company, working long shifts, staying home raising children, fixing vehicles, teaching students, or trying to survive a workplace where the coffee is weak and the meanings are strong, God can still move through your faithfulness.
44:01
Daniel Moore: Don't underestimate the impact of your consistency, your kindness, your honesty, or your quiet obedience.
44:08
Daniel Moore: You may never fully see the seed you're planting in the lives around you, but heaven does.
44:13
Daniel Moore: And one day, you may discover that the moments you thought were ordinary were actually the moments God used you most powerfully.
44:20
Daniel Moore: A life surrender to God turns ordinary work into eternal impact.
44:25
Daniel Moore: So, go love your spouse well, work with integrity, serve faithfully, and remember this your calling isn't just about what you do, it's also about who you represent while you do it.
44:38
Daniel Moore: Well, that's gonna do it for this week's episode.
44:41
Daniel Moore: We pray that your marriage is stronger and your walk with God is closer after we finish this episode this week.
44:46
Daniel Moore: This episode is recorded in the upper room at our Connecting the Gap Studios.
44:49
Daniel Moore: This is an extension of Connecting the Gap Ministries, and we pray that you have a blessed week.