Many Christ-followers struggle to find a sense of purpose or fulfillment in their work. Successful business executive Shundrawn A. Thomas says that mindset is not what God intended for us.
Thomas wants believers to recognize that they are not only designed to flourish in their workplace, but God wants them to enjoy what they do, regardless of their occupation, age or career stage.
“We have to do work and let the Spirit do work in us to really get to the deep issues of our heart and ultimately reveal what our deepest desires are,” Thomas told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of “Greenelines” on the Charisma Podcast Network. “I think our deepest desire is having a right relationship with God.
“That really is framed around three words. Those words are ‘work,’ ‘joy’ and ‘transform.’ When we think about work, we think about the mental and physical effort we put forth to achieve some sort of outcome. There is a fundamental truth about work. I believe that truth is that work is inherently good. We’re actually intended to flourish in our workplace.
“The second word is ‘joy.’ If we think about joy, it’s a source or cause of something that gives us great pleasure or fulfillment. We all want to have joy in various areas of our life. One of the things that I’ve really learned is that people don’t necessarily associate joy with work. But that second fundamental truth that I point out is work is intended to be joyful.
“The last word is ‘transformed.’ How do you get to the place where, on a more regular basis, you’re experiencing that meaningfulness or that fulfillment, that joy in your work? We have to transform something. And transform means to change something from one state to another. In this context, we’re talking about changing; we’re transforming our mindset. And what does the Bible talk about? Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to know what God’s perfect will is for you.”
For more about Thomas’ ministry, listen to this podcast.
