Thanks for all the comments on what passion is to you. Great response, very thought-provoking. Generally speaking, then, True Passion is:
- Something you care deeply about
- Your burden
- What drives you—and what drives you nuts. Like a terrier puppy with a sock. Need a crowbar to pry it loose.
- Something that costs you. There's wonderful Scripture that Angie Hunt quotes that goes something like this, "I will offer my God nothing that has not cost me." Real passion calls for sacrifices.
- A compelling urge. (Such as...hmm...dark chocolate!)
I think another sign of your deepest passion is that when you actively do something work in the area of your passion, you feel God’s glory. His delight.
Years ago Francine Rivers gave my family a movie (on VCR...tell you how long ago that was). She said the main characters reminded her of my mom and dad. The movie was Babette’s Feast. I was excited 'til I saw it was a foreign flick. Danish, to be exact. Much as I love languages (my college double-major was journalism and multiple languages--I studied French, Spanish, and Russian), I'm not crazy about watching movies with subtitles. But this was from my dear friend Francine, and she said we like it. So we all sat down and watched.
Within seconds we were captured. Drawn in to the story of two daughters--both with amazing talents--each who gave up their dreams to stay at home first to serve their pastor father, and then to serve his community. Humbly. With love. Then a woman comes to town, sent by a friend of theirs to be the sister's housekeeper, which she does for 14 years. When she wins the lottery. So what does this woman do with all that money? She prepares a meal
for the sisters and their community, her offering to honor them for their lives spent for each other and God. (The movie is so much more than I can relate here, and if you haven't seen it I urge you to run, don't walk, to the nearest video store and rent it.)
But what struck me most deeply in this moving film was one line Babette spoke to the sisters: "How the angels must delight in you." That, I think, is what it's like when you're given to your God-breathed passion. When you live and act and move in concert with passion, when you nurture the seed of passion planted within you when God breathed you into existence...
...The angels delight in you.
And so does God.
Whatever your passion is, then, you need to cherish it. To help it's roots grow deep and sure, and the blossoms to stretch to the skies until they bloom in all their glory. (Can you tell we're heading into gardening season?) And that means you need to be aware of things that keep you from you passion.
Namely, Passion Killers.
What do you think kills passion? What steals your delight in what you do, in who you are. What blocks out God's whisper? What wraps itself around you and puts a barrier between you and the passions God has poured into you?
I've got two Killers that I wrestle with regularly: Grief and Fatigue. Grief was for a season. But fatigue, well, I fight with that a lot. Both drain you, hinder your ability to think and even, at times, feel.
How about you? What are the passion killers you fight with? Share them here, and in the next installment, we'll explore how to deal with those killers, and how to nurture that wonderful passion within.
Peace.
Karen
