My name is Michael Dean Thomas. I have experience in investment banks, a Big 4 audit firm and a startup. I have worked in London, Singapore and South Africa. Welcome to my blog!
I see people drifting in life wherever I go. People grasping for things to cling onto in their careers. From millennials working at macdonalds, to corporate burnouts and to suicidal artists, each day human life is wasted on a global scale!
I have come to a conclusion: most Christian and secular career advice simply doesn’t permanently end pointless work experiences. We are so used to secular career thinking that we have even stopped believing that drifting is abnormal. Drifting is like a recurring illness, causing us to jump from one pointless career to the next.
We Need a Radical Solution to a Global Problem!
When we do not know that God has a better way, we may get caught in a struggle to survive. This is similar to the pig farm experience of the prodigal son. I call it the Purposeless Cycle. Here’s how it works.
The Purposeless Cycle often starts when our careers starts to drift. Work stops being challenging or interesting. Something inside of us screams “this is not right!” We ignore the warning signs, and keep going because there are bills to pay.
Without Even Realizing it, our Careers Begin to Drift.
After drifting for a while, we hit a career dead-end. The industry changes, our situations change or we just get fed up. Panic strikes when we realize:
I Don’t Know What Else I Can Do!
We slowly become despondent if there seems no way around the career dead-end. Life seems like an endless cycle of meaningless situations. So when the first career opportunity comes along, we jump at it.
Unfortunately, the Purposeless Cycle usually starts again in our new career. We start to drift, hit a dead-end and become even more despondent than before. Many people at this stage lose hope of ever finding a meaningful career and become deeply cynical about life.
Is there an alternative to the Purposeless Cycle?
How can someone like me, who has spent nearly two decades in secular careers decide to work with God fulltime? Let me share some of the life changing experiences that completely changed my understanding of how God wants to work with His children.
One day I was praying and in a vision I saw Jesus standing in front of me. I heard a voice say to me “you don’t believe I rose again. Touch my hands and see the holes”. I put out my hand and touched the holes in His hands. This fundamentally changed my understanding that God is not only real, but that Jesus rose again. God’s Kingdom is reaching for God’s children to become sons. There is another dimension reaching out to us.
Another time I was just walking in the street in Singapore and I heard the same voice say to me. “Take notes; this is what your book is about. The Law of Power. The Law of Peace. The Law of Persistence. The book you write will revolve around the parable of the sower…”
I said “I don’t understand what this book is about”. The response I got was “I want you to write this book ten times”. As I began to write the book ten times, I began to notice how God changed peoples careers throughout the Bible. It is called God’s path of life:
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart;do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT)
“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” (Psalm 16:11 NLT)
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21 NIV)
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.” (Matthew 7:24 NLT)
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27 NLT)
What is it like when you walk in God’s path of life?
Firstly, it requires faith. God needs to become so real in our lives, that we are willing to trust Him with our careers.
Secondly, it requires a willingness to do whatever God asks us to do. The work He gives you may be completely unrelated to anything you ever imagined. This is what happened to me!
Thirdly, the path of life is there for those who want to make a major impact. God is building His Kingdom. When you work with Him, you end up changing the world in unexpected ways. You may not always be popular, but there is real satisfaction as your work holds eternal consequences!
In order to encourage other believers to walk in God’s path of life, I’ve started a Facebook group called Work Together as the Body of Christ.
“This group’s mission is to help Christians go where they want to in their careers by operating together as the body of Christ.
In order to help Christians find their calling, I have created some extra resources:
– An overview of the path of life.
– I have written a book called Change Your Business Career with God. It is designed to help you find your calling and step into God’s path of life over forty days. This book is available on Amazon.
– Subscribe to this blog if you’d like to find out more about my progress as I walk in the path of life that God has set for me. More about me and my mission can be found here.
– I am traveling around the world. I’d love to meet you. Keep an eye on my travel page.
