I'm reading through a book that I had not previously finished. It's called "Waking the Dead," by John Eldredge. It's pretty much about living with the passion that God places in our heart and living it effectively.
The author makes a statement about living with passion from our heart and that it is a good thing. He states that to live with heart is a great thing but we need a couple of things for that. "We need to walk by the inspiration of the Spirit, and we need wisdom..." He goes on to say that having inspiration and passion are great but if you act without wisdom, it could possibly put out or extinguish the inspiration that God placed in you.
I understand that.
The author uses an example of a girl he knew with extreme passion and wanted to move forward in it. She felt called to teach the english language overseas and pursued it. She was accepted but when she got there, she wasn't prepared for what she would face. Essentially, what she would face would eventually discourage her and bring her home feeling broken and without passion to step out again.
I understand we need to use wisdom and walk in it as God leads us to do so. What I don't understand is, at what point do you know that you are ready to go or do what God asks you to do? I understand pursuing, praying, and seeking counsel from friends. At some point you have to step out and just do it. At first, with almost anything you choose to do, it's going to be rough, sometimes, even leaving you feeling completely discouraged. But, that's life. You just deal with it. That's learning, growing and living.
My question is, when do we know that we are prepared to pursue what we are passionate about? When do we recognize that it's time to "go for it?"
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4 comments:
Hmmm...this is a tough one. Sometimes you'll never know unless you step out. Yes, there is a chance you'd be like the girl who faced discouragement but there's a chance you won't be like her either. There's a quote I love by Elizabeth Elliot, "The heart set to do the Father's will need not fear defeat." When we ask for His will to be done, I think passion and wisdom come together. But in the real world, it often takes us stepping out and trusting that God will direct if His boundaries for your life are in other pleasant places....This is a tough one Matty.
Hey Matty...any relation to the Clapham Sect of Great Britian and their work with William Wilberforce?
http://www.wilberforce.org/article.asp?ID=6314
interesting question - how do you know? for me, passion has a negative connotation - in that it is feeling based... & in some ways has been something that suggests that my consistency & solidness of living out my faith has to do if I "feel the fire of passion" inside me. Great if I'm fired up. But what about the other 99% of the time when I am not feeling it?
For me, passion is being consistent in the things that are put in front of me - loving God with my life through obedience in every area that I know I'm supposed to be obeying. Loving other people actively - taking care of the seemingly humdrum, boring, life tasks with faithfulness, even if no one is watching me or will ever know about it.
Doing something great for God, to me, is a pipe dream that leads to me wondering if I'm in the "right" spot, doing the "right" thing, at the "right" time... & when I think about it, He's never called me to greatness or to grand things - usually its just an open door; an opportunity; something of obedience; a place to stand for him. If it turns out to be significant or "great" later on, its only in retrospect, looking back with the wisdom hindsight.
So much of the religion of Christianity is feeling based, works based, & "greatness" or "grandness" based...vs. obedience. consistency. faithfulness. simplicity. servanthood.
Sorry for the rant, but you hit a nerve. I see your life Matty, & think after all these years I know your heart pretty well - you want to obey God - you do everything you can to do it, w/o worrying about the analysis & mind-numbing brain battles that paralyze, wondering if its the right thing to do.
You're a good man.
Jen,
I'm not too sure if that has any relation. The only thing I know about the Clapham name is that it comes from Clapham, England, which is a suburb of London. I'm pretty uneducated when it comes to our family tree. Very interesting though.
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