Passion

This was written by a counselor, Katie Brazelton, not me, but I liked it, so I thought I'd just post it before I curl up with a good book tonight. TGIF!!


I'm passionate about puzzles. Okay, maybe "passionate" is overstating it, but I'm a puzzle enthusiast who's watched God transform my hobby into a ministry of helping women unscramble the puzzles of their lives to find their unique purpose.

We use the word "passion" to characterize everything from a sports fanatic's enthusiasm to the impulse that motivates a dastardly crime. In a world that's passion-driven instead of purpose-driven, is it OK for a good Christian woman like me to talk about living a life of passion?

Passion is the sizzle that makes life worth living. Passion is what God puts into each of us and what we experience when we live the life he designed for us to live. Living for God can transform your casual hobbies, job, ministry, or childhood dreams into world-changing passions. Your passions may have to be put on hold for a season, but you'll know when you're finally living in your "sweet spot" because of the extravagance and abandon with which you humbly give yourself away.

I meet women every day who struggle to find their life purpose. They live with uncertainty about what they should do to please God. But I've seen time and time again how God-given passion unlocks women from their guilt and frees them to do and be what God designed them to do and be, which leads to significance beyond measure.

Advancing the Kingdom in the Kitchen
The Bible is full of examples of ordinary people whose lives were changed from average into extraordinary when they allowed God to transform their daily routines into passions. Consider Martha (Luke 10:38-42), the beleaguered martyr who wanted Jesus to tell her sister Mary to get up off her derriere and help her in the kitchen. Look in on the scene in Martha's home a few months after the famous Martha-the-whiner story took place, when Mary is about to anoint Jesus' feet:

Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. (Bold added; John 12:1-2)
Amazing! Martha's still in the kitchen, still exercising her gift of hospitality, but this time she's not complaining! A few months earlier, Martha was drained by duty. Although she was gifted with the ability to see what needed to be done, she'd been burdened by the load of doing it.

Then a miraculous event seemed to transform Martha's humdrum obligation into a reverent and worshipful, behind-the-scenes passion. She stood at her brother Lazarus' graveside four days after he died, and then watched Jesus call him out from the grave. After this, I can only imagine that serving Jesus and others in an arena that came naturally to her took on a whole new meaning. Hospitality became her unpretentious sweet spot, because she started using it to serve others, instead of to feed her ego. She was advancing God's kingdom from her kitchen.

Now, Martha's passionately serving in her area of God-given giftedness to help people practically—without complaining. Jesus equips all of us differently, and he values Martha's wholehearted, nonshowboat service, just as much as Lazarus' witness and Mary's worship.

For What It's Worth
Living a passionate life costs nothing short of everything. Scripture tells us, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it" (Matthew 16:25). I've learned a life of passion is a sold-out life, a life born out of dying to myself, a life where I sometimes feel like a fool for Jesus.

Contrary to some popular thought, God's greatest desire for us is NOT that we be happy. It would be difficult to argue that the apostle Paul was happy and living in his sweet spot when he was in a Roman prison—even though he was passionately writing letters that were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Or dare we mistake Stephen's passionate prayers on behalf of his murderers for happiness when he was being stoned to death (Acts 7)? Some of our Christian life will be extremely difficult, and we're to passionately love God then as readily as we accept the happy times of sweet passion that he grants us.

This kind of unconditional, extravagant passion is what drove Mary to anoint Jesus' feet with a costly ointment that was probably her very dowry, her ticket to marriage (John 12:3). This is the passion that inspired King David to leap and dance before the Lord with all his might as he brought the ark back to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:14). But in these stories, you'll also notice that Mary's tearful worship made Judas angry and that David's exuberant abandon earned him a tongue-lashing from his wife. Living out your godly passion might cause people in your life to be upset with you, shy away from you, or call you crazy. The passionate life costs everything … but it's also worth everything.

Passion in the Percolator
Are you trudging through your days? God knows your obligations and commitments. He also knows when fear, guilt, shattered dreams, fatigue, a broken heart, or heavy responsibilities may be hiding the desires of your heart from view.

Trust me: God won't waste your background. He's always had plans for the assorted passions he gave you. His idea of where you're ideally suited may be far different from yours, but he's known for eons where you'll be the most fulfilled and precisely when you'll be ready.

And this is from Robert's email today on the very same subject: I pray that you and I will hear from the very same God. Who knows what He wants to say to you? I would have never dreamed just a few years ago that I would be sitting here in South Africa. It seems crazy ... but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Playing it safe is NOT safe when God calls you elsewhere! Can I hear an amen from across the big pond??? I only hope that each one of you can find the incredible satisfaction that I have deep in my soul. To know that you are being used by the maker of heaven & earth for His divine purposes is beyond description. I pray this sense of serenity, fulfillment, and joy for you my friend.