Today we welcome Michelle Miller and her contribution to our series on God at Work and in the Workplace. Michelle is the co-author of Sleep, Health and Society.
Experiencing God in the workplace
God’s hand on my career has always been evident, even though I sometimes struggled to accept the path before me. I turned down a PhD studentship when I completed my degree; as the idea of giving oral presentations of my work made me feel physically sick! God was patient and gracious: Just three years later I realized that he wanted me to pursue a PhD. I completed it when I was 8 months pregnant and slowly have embraced his calling on my work.
I love the fact that now my work and faith are being mixed together. In November 2010, somebody gave me a prophetic word where God was saying to me “I put an authority on you to speak, now speak that way…” As I have learnt to trust God, I’ve learnt to see my challenges and obstacles as opportunities for God to show me just how big he is. Little by little my confidence as a public speaker has grown. I’m constantly amazed that this person, who wouldn’t even speak in a family group setting, has ended up leading groups in my local church, teaching Medical Students, being invited to speak at International conferences and giving Radio interviews. I no longer want to run and hide when a new opportunity presents itself, but instead seek God, as I know that if it’s what he wants, he will enable me to do it. Stepping out is still hard but it’s such a buzz when you realise he’s right there with you.
Sleep research
For the past 13 years, I have concentrated on Sleep research. In September 2013 a prophetic word given to me spoke of “the healing that you are going to bring to people who don’t’ sleep”. And, that “doors would be opened…….”, “… that I would be ushered into high up places where people are so tormented by the lack of sleep, that I was going to bring the scientific but was also going to release the spiritual”. The bible says that ‘he gives his beloved sleep’ and even though I’m not clinically qualified God certainly seems to want me to use my research and insights to highlight the importance of sleep for health and wellbeing and to help the poor sleepers. I’m aware that this would not be possible if I were not willing to partner with him, to accept his calling on my life and get out of my comfort zone.
I’ve had the privilege of talking to people and signposting them to sleep services for diagnosis and treatment, to preview and review a Christian book on Sleep (Winning the Battle for the Night) and to bring Godly scientific insight to people who can’t sleep.
My work ethic is summed up in Colossians ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people’ Col 3v 23.
Partnering with him is fun!
Thank you very much Michelle for your blog post.
