Let's set the table.

Father,

You were working before we were watching. In the beginning — before time had a name, before the first breath was drawn — You were building. Creating. Moving.

And You haven't stopped.

Remind us this week that we are not trying to earn Your attention. We already have it. You placed a calling inside of us before we could ask for it. You've been whispering to us longer than we've been listening.

Help us hear You clearly this week. Give us the courage to move on what we hear. When fear tells us to stay, give us the faith to step.

And Lord — for our brothers and sisters around the world who are suffering for Your name right now — hold them. Sustain them. Let them feel Your presence in the dark places.

You are building something. We want to be part of it.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Most people never hear God's voice — and it's not why you think.

Here's what I believe, and what I've seen: God is whispering to a lot of people right now. He's putting thoughts on hearts constantly. The idea. The business. The thing you were made to build — it's already been placed in you.

The question is: what are you doing with it?

James 1:5 says He “gives to all generously and without reproach,” (NASB). He's not stingy. He's not picking favorites. He's generous with wisdom.

But I also believe He's not going to keep pouring into someone who's just going to sit on it.

Proverbs 2 says if you want to find the knowledge of God, you have to search for it like hidden treasure. You have to seek it. You have to move toward it. The wisdom doesn't just fall on you while you're watching TV.

So if you feel stuck right now — if your life feels like it doesn't have meaning, like you're just going through the motions — I want to say two things.

First: talk to God. That answer starts there. Ask Him. He will give it.

But second — and this is the part people skip — commit to taking action. Even before you have the full picture. Even before you've figured out your calling.

You might just have to try some things.

Because here's the truth nobody tells you: you don't always know what you're called to until you've done some things first. The experience you need. The skills you need. The knowledge you need to actually walk in your calling — sometimes you have to build that on the way to finding it.

God doesn't waste a step. Every job. Every failed attempt. Every season where you felt like you were spinning your wheels — it was building something in you.

Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established." (NASB)

He establishes your plans. But you've got to have plans to establish.

Write this down. Say it every morning.

"God, fill me with Your ideas. I will move."

Open hands. Ready feet.

That's the posture. That's how you hear Him.

I was reading something recently and I couldn't shake it.

Hosea 6:2. "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him." (NASB)

Hosea is writing a prayer on behalf of Israel — a people who had completely walked away from God. And he's saying: when we return to Him, He will restore us. On the third day — He will raise us up.

Most people read it as just an expression. God will restore Israel soon.

But then you get to 2 Peter 3:8 — and Peter writes something that changes everything.

"With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day." (NASB)

So what if those two days in Hosea aren't just soon?

What if each day is a thousand years?

Two days. Two millennia of waiting. After which — He revives us. And on the third day — the third millennium — He raises us up.

I had to put the book down.

We are sitting in the year 2026. Roughly two thousand years after Jesus walked this earth.

If Peter is right — that a day to God is a thousand years — then we are standing at the end of day two. We are standing at the door of the third day.

I'm not setting a date. I'm not telling you I know exactly when. Jesus Himself said no one knows the day or the hour. But the numbers are worth paying attention to.

Because look at what Hosea says happens on that third day. He doesn't say we just survive. He says we will live before Him. The literal Hebrew: before His face. Fully restored. Fully known. Walking in His presence — doing exactly what He put us here to do.

That's not just a future event waiting to happen somewhere out there.

That's an invitation that starts right now.

Living before Him — in His purposes, building what He wired you to build, serving the people He placed in front of you — you don't wait until the millennium to start that. You start today. In the work you do. In the calling you walk in.

The third day is the destination.

But you begin moving toward it now.

Nigeria — A Teacher Who Served Until the End

Michael Oyedokun taught math. He showed up for his students. He served his community with everything he had.

On May 15, armed men arrived on motorcycles and stormed three schools near Ogbomoso, Nigeria — abducting seven teachers and several children. Days later, a video surfaced online showing Michael being beheaded.

The community protested. Prayer gatherings filled the city. His colleagues, students, and neighbors mourned a man they described as dedicated — a committed Christian who served faithfully.

Several others are still missing. Families are still waiting.

Michael gave everything. Pray for his family. Pray for the children who were taken. Pray for Nigeria.

China — A Husband and Wife Imprisoned for Printing God's Word

In 2015, Chang Yuchun and his wife Li Chenhui ran a small publishing company in Xi'an, China — printing Christian books and materials. In 2020, their business was raided. State security police seized more than 210,000 Christian books. The couple was arrested, and in 2021 they were sentenced to prison.

They are still there.

Chang has developed a serious spinal condition. He can barely eat. His wife suffers from constant headaches, dizziness, and ongoing abuse from prison guards. Their son watches helplessly from the outside.

They were imprisoned for printing the Word.

Pray that God sustains them. Pray that He is their strength in that cell. Pray that He brings them home.

You may have seen the news: Jeff Bezos defended the layoffs at The Washington Post — cutting roughly a third of the staff — by saying the paper has to be profitable, regardless of his wealth.

When pressed, Bezos said: "If people won't pay for our product, it's not a good enough product."

And then this line: "It needs to stand on its own two feet."

I'm not here to debate his politics. I'm not weighing in on the media wars. But that phrase — stand on its own two feet — I want to talk about that. Because it matters for us.

As Christians, we are called to build. Not to float. Not to depend. To build.

Work wasn't a punishment. Work was here before sin entered the world. Genesis 1:1 — the very first line of the Bible — God was already working. Creating the heaven and the earth. He was building before we were watching.

And we were made in His image.

That means we were made to create. To produce. To build things that stand.

Now — some people push back on that. If you don't believe in the creation, if you believe we just evolved from nothing with no purpose and no design, I get why work feels optional. Why building feels pointless. If there's no Creator, there's no mandate. There's no reason.

But we know different.

We know that work is worship. That building is stewardship. That the business you grow, the capacity you create, the overflow you generate — it's not just for you. It's so you have something to give. Something to extend. A place for someone else to work, to grow, to find their own calling — maybe even to find God in the process.

There are people around you right now who don't know Jesus yet. They have gifts they don't understand. A calling they haven't named. And when they see you — a builder, a believer — standing on your own two feet and serving generously from the overflow... that's a witness.

You build so others can be served. You stand so others can lean. You create capacity so there's room for the people God sends your way.

That's why your business has to stand on its own two feet.

Not for vanity. For ministry.

Every week we give you a tool you can actually use. This week it connects directly to what we just talked about.

The goal: Write your business's "why we exist" statement — rooted in stewardship, not just strategy.

Most businesses write mission statements that sound like everyone else. Vague. Corporate. Forgettable. But you're building something different. You know why you build. Let's put it into words.

Copy and paste this prompt into ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI tool you use:

"I am a Christian business owner. My business is [describe what you do in 1-2 sentences]. Help me write a 'why we exist' statement that reflects the idea that my business is an act of stewardship — that I'm building with purpose, creating overflow to serve others, and operating as if my work is worship. The tone should be grounded, sincere, and clear — not corporate, not fluffy. It should feel like something I actually believe and would actually say. Give me 3 different versions I can choose from."

Fill in the bracket with your actual business. Then take the output, read it out loud, and edit it until it sounds like you.

When your mission statement reflects your real calling, everything else gets clearer — your content, your offers, your team, your customers.

You're not just building a business. You're building something that stands.

You opened this up today for a reason.

Maybe you needed the reminder that God's been whispering and it's time to move. Maybe the third day caught your attention. Maybe you're building something right now that feels hard and fragile and uncertain — and you needed to hear that building is the point.

It is.

The work matters. Not just the results — the work. The showing up. The committing. The trying things before the full picture is clear.

Michael Oyedokun went to work every day and taught children math in a dangerous place. He kept showing up. He stood on his own two feet. And one day it cost him everything.

His life was a statement. Your life is a statement too.

Make it one worth reading.

God placed something in you. He's been generous. He's been patient. He's been whispering.

Now it's your turn to move.

Keep building.

— Penny Ray

P.S. — If something in this issue hit you, forward it to one person who needs it. That's how we grow this thing.