Christians who display joy will bring something positive to the workplace that the world cannot provide. When we go through a trial and have confidence in God’s ability to work out all things for good, those who do not know him may ask us where this joy comes from. At that moment, we have earned the right to explain to our co-workers the reason for the hope we have in Christ (1 Peter 3:15).

In my Christian walk, I have observed several key truths about the Holy Spirit I would like to explore as we prepare for Pentecost Sunday. I discussed the first two in my recent article, and I will look at the third and fourth today.

The power of the indwelling Spirit enables Christians to do great things for Christ’s Kingdom.
We experience God’s presence through the Holy Spirit as he teaches us and reminds us of Jesus’s words.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit help us to find our purpose.
The fruit of the Spirit makes us like Christ.

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Here are the passages where the Apostle Paul provides a list of spiritual gifts for all believers: Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, and Ephesians 4:11-13. The Apostle Peter mentions them in 1 Peter 4:10-11.
To begin, let us go back to the book of Exodus, where we see a worker who yielded his talents to serve God. God selected a craftsman named Bezalel, one of the talented construction workers who he ordained to be in charge of building and furnishing his tabernacle. God tells Moses, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts” (Ex. 31:1-3).
I do not think that Bezalel suddenly developed these things overnight. To the contrary, he had already possessed these technical skills, aptitudes, and know-how because God had sovereignly developed them over the course of his entire life “for such a time as this.” The presence of the Spirit of God enabled him to do the job well, with the strength that God provided to accomplish this great work.
The spiritual gifts each Christian has were designed to be used in and out of the church, wherever we work. Paul indicated that this outworking of the Holy Spirit was “given for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7). Miroslav Volf writes, “As the firstfruits of salvation, the Spirit of Christ is not only active in the Christian fellowship but also desires to make an impact on the world through the fellowship.”
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I trust that whatever season of life you are in, as a young person learning new skills or pursuing a special relationship, or as a seasoned employee who is in the position to give back to others, you are pursuing the tasks that God has called you to do with perseverance. You may not see how it is all going to come together, but if you can trust God, you will gradually grow in skills, knowledge, and Christlikeness.

Back in March, I had an interesting discussion with our unit chaplain. He had given a lot of thought to a scene in a classic movie that had some implications for integrating our Christian faith in our work and relationships. His main point is that we don’t always see the results of our hard work. If the end result of what we are pursuing is worth the effort, we need to press on by faith, regardless of the feedback we receive.
Let me briefly summarize this scene and then discuss it from a biblical perspective. I think it will be a valuable discussion.
Wax On, Wax Off
Mr. Miyagi, the old man with a mysterious past and some mad karate skills agrees to train Daniel. In this scene, Daniel is complaining that all he has been doing over the entire weekend is helping his coach with various chores like waxing the car, painting the fence, and painting the deck. His muscles are sore. He is exhausted. What is worse is that he is discouraged. He has not seen any connection between what he was asked to do and learning the basics of this martial art. He wants to quit.
With some persuasion, Mr. Miyagi gets Daniel to stay. He shows him how each of the tasks he asked Daniel to do would enable him to execute a basic defensive karate move. It is hard to remember how cool it was when I saw this scene for the very first time. I was just as amazed as our main character was to see it come together.
What Mr. Miyagi was trying to put across is that learning new skills takes time. There are a variety of ways to learn the muscle memory needed to be able to do these defensive moves without thinking. Waxing cars (circular motions from the inside out) and painting the fence and deck (using vertical and horizontal motions) were the tools the master teacher used for our karate kid to learn the skills that would help him later on.
Feedback Loops
In our deep theological discussion of this particular scene, the chaplain referred to “feedback loops.” Daniel wanted to quit was because he got no feedback during the tasks he was doing. He did not see the results he expected.
The chaplain talked about small loops, where we receive feedback on our efforts early and often. Much of the time we see large loops, where feedback is late in coming, is infrequent, or never arrives at all. When we see a little progress towards meeting our goals, feedback spurs us on. If no feedback is received, we get discouraged.
Positive feedback which motivates us to keep on doing what we are doing comes in many forms.
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The presence of God, represented by the angel Gabriel, appeared to Zechariah and to Mary. Next, we see the presence of God with an unnamed angel who proclaims Jesus’ birth to the shepherds. God interrupted their humble job as caretakers of sheep, which led to their assignment as the first evangelists to share the good news. As the Theology of Work Bible Commentary (vol. 4) notes,  “God is able to break into the midst of everyday life with his goodness and glory.”

In this Advent season, we celebrate the birth of Immanuel, who brought God’s presence to us. As we live in between Jesus’s first and second comings, the reality of his presence affects every aspect of our lives at church, at home, and at work.
Luke’s version of the Christmas story offers glimpses of men and women of faith—ordinary workers, like you and me—who illustrate the repeated biblical connection between God’s presence and human work, which I call Immanuel labor. I invite you to join me as I unpack their stories, share some observations, and consider how to apply these principles to experience God’s presence at work.
Zechariah’s Work
The first character Luke introduces us to in the Christmas story is Zechariah, an ordinary priest. His wife, Elizabeth, was barren (we also later learn she is a close relative of Mary, Jesus’ mother). When Zechariah was doing his duty serving in the temple, he was randomly chosen to burn incense. Luke tells us that there, in the middle of carrying out his job, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, announcing that Elizabeth would bear a son who would “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Lk. 1:5-17).
This divine encounter undoubtedly enabled Zechariah to continue his priestly work in a new light, but it also gave him a new role: the father of the boy who would grow up to be John the Baptist. As we consider how God’s presence with Zechariah might apply to us, perhaps our most significant contributions to God’s Kingdom are not what we accomplish, but what God will do through the children we raise.
Mary’s Faith 
Like Zechariah, Mary is an example of an ordinary parent raising an extraordinary son—and thus another great example of God’s presence connecting with human work. However, Mary’s faith in God was deeper and her work far more profound.
God was present with Mary as the Holy Spirit came upon her at Jesus’s conception (Lk. 1:35). God was present while she was in labor to deliver the Deliverer. Through the pain of childbirth that Eve was cursed with in Genesis 3:16, Jesus was born so that we could be born again. God was present with her as Jesus’ loving mother as she worked daily to meet his human needs.
In reading Mary’s song of praise (Lk. 1:46-55), we see that she not only understood God’s omnipresence with his chosen people, but that she had experienced his presence personally.
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The Apostle Paul taught that every follower of Jesus Christ is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). We are like “walking tabernacles” of God’s presence wherever we go, including the workplace. Just like the tabernacle, the portable temple where God’s presence resided that the Israelites carried through the wilderness for forty years until they entered the Promised Land, we too can experience the presence of God as we travel through the wilderness of our workplaces over our forty-year careers. He blesses our employers, coworkers, subordinates, and customers as he works with us, in us, and through us.

The Day of Pentecost has sometimes been overlooked in many churches I have attended, which is unfortunate. What happened with the early church in Jerusalem fifty days after the Passover clearly empowered them to do the work Jesus had called them to do, which radically changed the civilized world as we know it. The Holy Spirit’s power and presence continue to impact our workplaces today.
In my Christian walk, I have observed several key truths about the Holy Spirit I would like to explore. I’ll discuss the first two today and the third and fourth in my next article.

The power of the indwelling Spirit enables Christians to do great things for Christ’s Kingdom.
We experience God’s presence through the Holy Spirit as he teaches us and reminds us of Jesus’s words.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit help us to find our purpose.
The fruit of the Spirit makes us like Christ.

The Power of the Holy Spirit
The best place to start our discussion on the impact that the Day of Pentecost had on the work of Jesus’s disciples and with believers today is to unpack the power of the Holy Spirit. Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus told his disciples to stay in Jerusalem to “wait for the gift my Father promised” (Act. 1:4). Jesus said that they would “receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” and that this gift would enable them to be his witnesses “to the ends of the earth” (Act. 1:8).
In Acts 2:1-41, the Holy Spirit did a mighty work among the ethnically diverse crowd gathered on the Day of Pentecost to expand the church to three thousand new believers. The Spirit worked in and through Peter as evidenced by his powerful preaching, where he moved in the hearts of the Gentiles who had heard the gospel of Jesus Christ in their own language and repented. The church continued to work in the power of the Holy Spirit as God’s coworkers to expand his church in Jerusalem on a global scale.
This power the apostles had enabled them to do the challenging work Jesus called them to do. This same power resides in us, giving us strength to obey God in order to live the Christian life. The Holy Spirit gives ordinary Christians the ability to work with a renewed mind and a higher purpose.
Tom Nelson, in Work Matters, heartily echoes this concept:
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Psalm 128:2 mentions one of the many blessings of those who fear the Lord and who walk in His ways. The writer states, “You will eat the fruit of your labor.” This was written after or during a time of exile, when pagan nations swooped in and literally ate the produce that Israel had worked for. Once Israel returned to the land, they could enjoy the crops they raised. In general, what I see here is that job satisfaction seems to be a divine by-product of long, dedicated efforts.

Previously, I shared some observations about work from several of the minor prophets. Today, I thought it might be helpful to provide a brief summary of some of the observations about work from the Psalms that I have compiled in my book, Immanuel Labor – God’s Presence in our Profession.
The Psalms Show Us God as a Worker
We know that God created the heavens and the earth in six days and then rested from His work (Gen. 2:2-3). David declares that God’s work is reflected in His creation (Ps. 19:1.) (See also Ps. 102:25)
Moreover, God continuously works now to sustain His creation. Psalms 65:9–13 describes how God provides water, vegetation, and animals for His people through His care over the land He gave them.
Psalm 104:10-31 highlights in much greater detail all of the things that God provides for His people. In addition to what was mentioned above, he adds wine and oil, trees to build homes, temples, and other buildings, the moon and sun to mark off the seasons, and the sea which contains much food.
Additionally, in Psalm 111:2-7, we observe that God works to show His grace, mercy, providence, power, and faithfulness. In Psalm 143:5, David ponders all of the work that God has done throughout His own life. His deep understanding and experiences give him hope, causing him to continue to trust in Him.
The Psalms Take Us into the Work Environment
Throughout Psalm 107, we see God’s people stressed out by changes to the work environment. Some were looking for work. They wandered in the desert (vv. 4-5). God delivered them by providing for their needs in His unfailing love (vv. 6-9). Others made their living on the water. Storms at sea brought fears of losing personnel, boats, and goods (vv. 23-27). God delivered them by stilling the storm and bringing them to shore (vv. 28-32). In spite of these difficult situations that were beyond their control, God’s never-changing covenant love, faithfulness, and protection got them through.
Psalm 128:2 mentions one of the many blessings of those who fear the Lord and who walk in His ways. The writer states, “You will eat the fruit of your labor.” This was written after or during a time of exile, when pagan nations swooped in and literally ate the produce that Israel had worked for. Once Israel returned to the land, they could enjoy the crops they raised. In general, what I see here is that job satisfaction seems to be a divine by-product of long, dedicated efforts. I know that it is for me.
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