What’s Your Passion?

Still in a reflective mood in mid-January, an advertising blurb stuck with me this week: “Share Your Passion.”  The ad caught my attention because it was from WordPress–the organization that has published my blog for the past six-and-a-half years.  I immediately thought to myself, “‘Share My Passion’?  Is that what I am doing when I write?”  It caused me to wonder, “What am I passionate about?” and, more to the point, “Why do I write?”

Passion defined:  Ardent in feeling or desire; vehement; warm; as, a passionate friendship. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary.)

As I reflected on those questions, I had started work on a paint-by-number painting* of a pair of cardinals. I was surprised by how the process of applying the colors of the paints impacted me emotionally as the head of the first bird emerged. As I continued and the contrasting colors around it brought “life” to the canvas, I felt an almost primal urgency–dare I say passion?–as I painted faster to watch the bird and its surroundings emerge.

Almost lost in the creative process, I thought about God as Creator.  I wondered, “What level of passion was involved in forming the world around us?”  

God’s response to Job’s misery lends insight into Him as passionate Creator:

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angelsa shouted for joy?
“Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
Job 38:4-11

As we live life on this earth, we can be assured that God was (and continues to be) passionate about all He created:

• As He fills the skies with drama from sunrise to sunset, and scatters the night with the shining beauty of the cosmos . . .
• As the seasons He set in motion continue to provide what is needed to sustain life and the loveliness that surrounds us . . .
• As He endows the heart with wisdom and gives understanding to the mind of those who seek Him (Job 38:36).

There is a difference between passion experienced in day-to-day life that is run by our emotions verses godly passion.  Going still deeper in my thinking, I remembered another passage recorded in Scripture that encourages Christians to emulate God’s passion as evidenced by His Son:

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners,
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Hebrews 12:1b-3

Godly passion is more than emotional;
Godly passion is intentional as well as sacrificial.
Godly passion perseveres. 

So, what I am passionate about and why do I write my blog?  The answer is mixed:

• I certainly don’t write for the fun of it–writing is difficult and frustrating for me.  (I’ve been working toward this one since before Christmas and am only now seeing it come together.)
• Writing is a calling for me.  I write to pass forward some of the things learned while facing personal challenges, as well as from counseling others.

Along the way something changed:
Passion entered when I realized He had things He wanted to teach me
that could only be learned through the process of writing.

With every post I write I learn something new.  The continual meandering along the myriad of ‘bunny trails’ I end up deleting (though still frustrating) have become part of the process of gaining insights into myself, God and the surrounding world.  So what’s my passion?  Pure and simple, it’s wanting to see what God’s going to do next!

Now it’s your turn . . . what’s YOUR passion?

All to His Glory!

*Artistically I am a “wannnabe” painter. Several years ago I discovered paint-by-number kits have improved substantially from the splotchy one I did of Beatle John Lennon in the 60’s.  In recent years I have enjoyed doing several with surprisingly good results!