Daily Work Spotlight: Grace Stein
Tell us a bit about your daily work. What do you do?
I am an ER nurse, and I work the night shift at a Level I trauma center, so we receive the most severe traumas in the area. On any given night, I see a wide range of patients—everything from a baby with an ear infection to gunshot wounds.
How does your work pursue truth, create beauty, and/or do good?
I am often the face people see on their worst day. There is good in upholding dignity in sickness and death. Honoring and caring for individuals in their suffering is doing good in the midst of chaos. Being a nurse in a crisis is a unique opportunity to show tangible love to my neighbor.
I pursue truth by giving the right medication and charting effectively. I look at the whole person, not just the report I receive; that helps me pursue the truth and care for them well.
In what ways are you reflecting the Lord’s character in your daily work?
The Lord is peace, and the ER often lacks peace. When someone comes in and their foundation is shaken, I have an opportunity to be a blanket of peace in difficult and chaotic situations.
I also have to be very honest with people, even when the truth is hard. It is a picture of God telling us the right thing to do, even though we often desire something else. I often have to tell people what to do or not to do in their lives to help them feel better. The Lord is honest and tells us what we need, even when it differs from our immediate desires.
How do you see your work as a response to the cultural mandate (Genesis 1:28)?
We are not the ultimate healers; you can see traces of God in how medicine is made and used. Medicine is a gift from God. We can turn a fungus into an antibiotic that saves a life. This is part of the cultural mandate to subdue the earth.
God made our bodies with a real capacity to heal, and He has given healthcare workers knowledge of how our bodies work; He doesn’t keep that a mystery. Because these are gifts, they carry responsibility. We are called to steward what we know about the body—keep learning, use our skills wisely, and aim our work toward relieving suffering and restoring health for our neighbors.
My work expresses my faith because I can acknowledge the brokenness of this world while trusting the Savior who will one day heal every hurt.
How is your work meaningful as an expression of your faith?
As a Christian, I see a real connection between the sin in this world and the sickness and suffering I encounter, and I feel it deeply. I am always shaken by death. I resonate with Christ weeping for Lazarus—it reminds me that this is not the way it’s supposed to be. Through these hard things I am reminded that God sees and knows each person and knows the number of hairs on each person’s head. My work expresses my faith because I can acknowledge the brokenness of this world while trusting the Savior who will one day heal every hurt.
What encouragement would you give to someone who feels their work is disconnected from their faith?
I often feel disconnected from my faith when I work. I go into nurse mode for 12 hours overnight when everyone else is asleep. But each “Hi, I’m Grace. I’ll be your nurse today” is a chance to reflect Christ. Simply doing my job well, with the knowledge and skills God has allowed me to gain, can be a faithful act of service. I don’t have to win awards or be recognized to make my work meaningful. What matters is being a servant of Christ in the place He’s put me.
Of course, I make mistakes—I say the wrong thing, I hurt feelings, I miss the mark. Yet even in my failures, the Lord is present. He uses the good and the bad, the strong moments and the weak ones. My work becomes a testimony of trust—trust that God is at work in me and through me, even when I don’t feel “spiritual” at all.
That’s the encouragement I’d offer: faith doesn’t have to look dramatic or extraordinary at work. Sometimes it’s simply showing up, doing your job well, and remembering that the Lord uses it all.
Daily Work Spotlights are part of a series of conversations with believers who are pursuing excellence in their daily work while seeking to honor God in all they do. Through these interviews, we aim to show how faith shapes the way we approach our vocations, from the decisions we make to the way we serve others.
Each story offers a glimpse into the lives of men and women who see their work as more than a job. They are connecting faith to their daily tasks, striving to reflect Christ in their industries, workplaces, and communities..