Passion

Passion

I’ve heard it said that passion is what gets you out of bed in the morning. Well, what gets me out of bed in the morning is that I feel it’s ridiculous to keep lying around in bed when I have stuff to do. Am I passionate about the things that need to be done? No, I’m not. I just know that, even if I don’t accomplish much during the day, at least it will be more than I’d get done by just being in bed.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines passion as a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something. I am not an overly enthusiastic or easily excitable person. That’s just not how I’m wired. But when we’re told to follow our passion, to let God develop our passion, we should be willing to use our passions for God.

Of course, I had, and still have, a passion for my family. The focus of the passion has changed over the years, as I’ve gone from being mommy, teacher, nurse, counselor, referee, and law enforcer to just being Mom. Mom, who is still a counselor, long distance nurse, and most importantly, friend. But a passion for family is pretty much a given—I think it’s inherent in most moms. Even in the midst of this passion I had a strong sense of selfishness. My life wasn’t always about what was best for my husband or our children.

I have had various passions that come and go depending on the season of my life. My kids always cringed when I got on a health-kick passion. That meant natural peanut butter, more vegetables and not very many snack foods in the house. But I’d get tired of the extra effort it took and we’d slowly revert back to our normal way of eating—not overly healthy, but much more convenient. Not truly a passion, but a passing fad. I had a passion for miniature horses when I raised them. But even with that, the passion faded over the years and now I’d say that I’m a person who likes horses; I am not a horse person.

I was somewhat passionate about home schooling, 4-H, various church ministries simply because that’s what I was involved with at the time. Were they passions that I would fight for? Except for being able to educate our kids at home, I’d say that the others were more of a past time than a passion.

I am passionate about reading books. Not books that really educate or enlighten my life, just books that are for my entertainment. We have a houseful of books, many of which I’ve never read. Most of what I read comes from the library, or more recently, is downloaded onto my Kindle. I like books. I am thrilled when I see pictures of a room full of books. Our whole family likes books and enjoys reading them and owning them. Our shelves overfloweth. But what, in the realm of eternity, does that even matter?

I want to have a passion in my life that makes a difference. Not something that I obsess about, but something that truly moves my heart. As I am thinking about this, though, does personality make a difference in how we see passion? As I said, I am not an overly excitable person. Although I laugh, have fun, and enjoy life, I stay pretty much in control of my emotions. I don’t shout out at ball games, I don’t shout out during worship services. That’s just not who I am.

I have seen people who would be described as being passionate about a cause, but all they really do is talk about it. They’ll argue, debate, quote—whatever it might take to underline their passion. But do they ever put their passion into action? Are they trying to find a place, even on the local level or behind the scenes, where they can work to support their cause? Do they take even a small portion of their hard-earned money and donate it to those who are in position to carry out the mission? Are they willing to take their vacation time and pay to go serve in their area of passion?

A passionate worshiper might not be the one with hands raised, singing with the loudest voice (in perfect harmony, of course) or jumping and shouting as the Spirit seems to move. Passion may move more deeply and quietly in some people. Perhaps God is speaking directly to a heart as that person stands there quietly with arms crossed, not singing a word. Are we up in front looking “spiritual” for the benefit for those around us or is our worship personal? Not that we don’t have outward expressions of worship, but who are the expressions for? To make us seem to be more passionate or because we are truly worshipping our Creator God?

I feel that being passionate is a matter of being obedient to God’s calling. If He has called me to support a ministry or a mission, I should learn more about it, pray about it, give financial support as I’m able, and share what I know about it with friends and family. Maybe I can even volunteer in some capacity, especially if the ministry is local.  

I sometimes feel that we get overwhelmed by all of the causes in the world and we feel that we can’t handle the pressure to support them all. That, in my opinion, is the good news: more than likely, we aren’t called to support them all. We can pray for each and every cause that we come across, but there will be those that tug more at our heartstrings. Those that we think about at random times of the day. Those are the causes we should be passionate about, not only with our words but with our actions. Praying for what we’re passionate about can increase our passion all the more as we see God working in and through us.

Through those prayers, our passion can increase. Our passion can make a difference in the world. True passion can make a difference in me.