Direction in the Maelstrom
Don't allow yourself to be tossed to and fro.
This will be a huge challenge, and it is one which I wish I had resoved sooner than later.
The sooner you determine your true north, the better.
The problem is that much of this has been conflated with your passion, and I read so many books about finding passion, purpose, blah.
These things can then be conflated with a type of career, industry, role, lifestyle.
Those material things represent what the underlying decision is.
One can't take the castle in a malestrom if that castle's position in your mental map is shifting all the time.
The commonality of people who do make it is an intense obsession, and while i tmake work for some, I am unclear whether it always works and if that's to your benefit as a Christian.
"Getting Rich" can be an obsession.
But what does that mean?
I wanted to start a high tech business since college and I studied existing businesses, tried to find apatterns to see what could be disurupted or copied; I found opportunities in information marketing before it became common.
There are some who could just analyze the market and come up with something and succeed. There are some who are singularly focused on this and enter known industriesi with a high success rate, such as priate equity or venture capital.
These are paths where surviving and thriving will give largely better outcomes than surviving or thriving in most other occupations.
I just think that isn't a great true north; and it may not be the one that leads to the greatest success, material or spiritual.
The right true north is the one that keeps you steadfast despite what is going on around you.
What do you stand for, and what will stand the test of time?
The rest is gravy.
The church unfortunately has made the level of this commitment as a true north behavioral: volunteer in a ministyr, attend church, invoke the name of God, pray.
But many inside are still lost or run the risk of being derailed for what their true direction in life is to follow Jesus.
Once the muck is cleared by slaying demons and plugging the holes filling an empty house is to find that march.
The underlying throughline will always be the same; how you express it, the time and effort you devote may vary, but a life well lived will be to find that straight path target as soon as possible.
Then it becomes true that what you do to get there is carrying your own cross.
It means writing it down, and then pulling back and ensuring you are ready for what it could be, you can pay the cost but you can also build the rewards if God desires this for you.
Not the other way around.
I had a very hard time reconcile the two, and that can be a sign of something needing to change. Christians don't have freedom to do anything they want to do, which is often upsetting to them.
But it doesn't have to be a narrow constraint as the church may want you to believe, either.
I can't go into all the depth, but I think for men, it's valuable to get there.
Whom do you serve?
This starts to become tricky for so amny industries, because the master being served is far more compelling than God. Unfortunately, the person being served in many finance jobs, such as private equity, and investment banking, are the clients. which are often large corporations, family offices, pension funds, that do seek a return. But the goal for most in this role is to create the best return for themselves.
This is why many financial instruents don't exceed a passive index market returns.
Very rare is there someone in the market serving other than Mammon in the end....that's not to say that there aren't Christians in those fields or that there shouldn't be.
But the true north Must be something other than my purpose is to bing home the largest slice of bacon for a comfortable life blessed by God.
You can get wealthy, if God desires, serving people who have not been served, and do so to solve their problems and do so in a way that pursues you. Jesus.
But some occupations may not.
The bigger game you play the better.
Who do you want to be?
Whom do you follow?
Great satisfaction in your work and current state.
But holy dissatisfaction that the work of Christ is unfinished till he remains.
At that time, there is no other option.
Are you living as if that time is near?
Some people, and if you can do this, have picked whatever skill they have to ensure some kind of living and devote their life to bringing people to Jesus.
This is entirely possible to do.