God at Work

One of the Orissa leaders in my Sketches of Leadership training sessions who is  
teaching in a discussion format to an engaged crowd of young people.

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.        Genesis 1:1-5

Dear Friends,
(From Rich) I love the photo above sent from my friend and translator Pastor S, who has been helping over 100 pastors and church planters use the materials we have been teaching in Orissa and Andra Pradesh states of India. This young man has been entrusted with both teaching from scripture through our sessions together and a model for inductive teaching that people, especially young people, are very much responsive to, and you can see it on their faces in this photo.
In my teaching ministry with pastors and lay leaders in Asia, I often teach the first eleven chapters of Genesis, since they are fundamental to shaping our identity as humans in relationship with God. And this week, here in Durham we began a series for the Young Adult Ministry at our church on “God at Work.” We began in Genesis, looking at the first workers, both divine and human. The Bible begins by telling us that God had a problem at the beginning; the “earth” was a formless void. “Earth” is in quotes because the “Earth” as we think of it wasn’t yet created. God began with a formless void: formless, because it lacked any structure whatsoever, and void, because it was empty. So, two steps were needed to solve this problem: 1) create the structures of life (day and night, the heavens and the seas, dry land), then 2) fill those structures with lights, birds and fish, animals and people. Days 1 through 3 God was creating the structures; days 4 through 6 God was filling them.

I am now in full-time supported ministry but I have had several secular jobs. I have always been in ministry to people who work in some trade or profession. Most legitimate work can be described by either bringing structure where it is needed or filling emptiness. Legal and accounting work provides structure to facts and knowledge and contracts and numbers, and truck drivers fill their trucks with goods and then bring those goods to places that need them. Teaching at any level can be viewed as bringing structure to knowledge, to facilitate learning. In these professions and many more, when people perform their work with diligence they are acting in the image of God, providing structure and creatively filling.

Last night, we identified several insights in Genesis 1-3 that help us think about the significance of our work: 1) the Bible describes God as a worker—he worked six days in creation and then rested on the seventh. God evaluates his work as good. And we can see God was trying to problem-solve, to leave “the world” better than he found it, moving from empty chaos to order to abundance. 2) Humanity is created in God’s image and hence work is an important part of human identity. Indeed, work was given to humanity before the fall: even in paradise, people were given creative work to do. 3) With the fall came toil and sweat: all work, no matter how elevating, can be frustrating and sometimes even futile. We shared honestly the ways our work feels like toil and also reflected on the ways that our work and all workers have dignity. These insights should shape our days and our discipleship.

While work is not our ultimate source of fulfilment, Lisa and I are grateful to be given meaningful and purposeful work to do, as teachers and leaders, as servants and coaches to leaders in Asia, to young adults in our church, and to Lisa’s mom here in our home in Durham. We do not now know how long we will be in Durham, but we can see how God is blessing our choice to come here, and others through our coming.
Two weeks ago, I preached at our church in Durham, and I invite you to watch it if you’d like.
Please pray with us:

• Lisa continues to enjoy her ongoing Introductory NT Greek class with the refugees from Burma in Kuala Lumpur. They struggle with pressures from their multiple commitments just to keep their lives afloat in Malaysia while they await resettlement which takes years. She is pleased with their progress but is aware it comes at a great cost to them in sleep and stress. Please pray for Lisa’s teaching, with a proper mix of challenge and affirmation, and for their progress as they move toward completion of their course in the next 6 weeks.
• We both have multiple invitations to travel in 2025. We are not sure how to deal with these invitations but are hoping God will make it possible at least for me to visit India in January or soon after, for Lisa to attend a conference she would love to attend with  Scholar Leaders in March, and for me to keep a commitment I made before we moved from Malaysia to teach a conference there in June. Nancy, Lisa’s mom, seems to be thriving while living with us, which is gratifying but also leaves us uncertain about our own planning. Please pray for wisdom and clarity regarding these and other ministry opportunities.
• Western North Carolina was hit severely by Hurricane Helene and our church members have family and friends in that part of the state who have been deeply affected. Please continue to remember the losses of lives and property in this time.

Thanks so much. We’d love to hear from you (or to host you for a visit in Durham)!
Rich and Lisa Lamb

Rich preaching at Triangle Grace Church on Sunday, October 6  ​