Our mantra today is, “Do what you’re passionate about! Don’t waste your time doing what you don’t care for. Go for what’s burning inside.â€
And I say, “Ummm, maybe.†Let me tell you a story.
When I was growing up there was a fellow in our church who wanted to sing. He dreamed of singing for the church. Only thing is, there were crows whose voices were more pleasant than his.
But, he was so passionate that he took singing lessons. And I had to admit, he improved. He improved from being a terrible singer to being a bad singer.
Through the mercy of our pastor, he realized his dream of singing all by himself for the church one Sunday evening. It was memorable.
Through the mercy of the pastor to us, I never heard this brother sing a ‘special’ again.
He was passionate but he needed to match the skills God had given him with his passions. The man was a good carpenter and he blessed the church with that ability.
We need to learn to balance our passions with our gifts. I’d love to play professional baseball, but I wouldn’t even have the strength to carry their paycheck. I may be passionate about baseball but that’s not where my best skills are.
Now, before you check out on me, most of our dreams come in the egg and we have to sit on them to hatch them. In other words, we may secretly want to do certain things and God may have made us for those things, but any real dream takes patience, hard work to improve, and a lot of God’s help from unexpected sources at unforeseen times.
And at first, there may not be much evidence of gifting in that area.
Passion drives our dreams. Many of them do seem impossible but that burning inside that God put there pushes us to accomplish them (if we don’t work at it, that’s not passion burning inside. Just indigestion).
How do we know if that passion to be or to do that fuels us is just a pipe dream or a dream that comes from God?
Five Tests for Your Passion
Talk to other people who love the Lord and who love you and see what they think. Mind you, that shouldn’t be the final word. Most great dreamers had a lot of wise counselors who said, “No way!â€Â But if nine people out of the ten you talk to say, “You, a singer!†then fall on the ground laughing, you might at least consider trying something else.
Then be honest with yourself. Lots of people who try out for American Idol need to make a video and listen to themselves before they expose themselves to national ridicule.
What are you good at? What do you do poorly? Even if you don’t do the thing you’re passionate about very well, can you grow and improve? Try it.
Set out to accomplish your dreams even before you can devote full time to it. The willingness to work hard and sacrifice to reach your goal is a good indication that this is something you should be doing.
Try to find a “dream-encourager†to help you on your way. (Usually, your mom isn’t the best person for this). Find someone who will challenge you, teach you, motive you, and give you a swift kick in the seat of the pants when needed.
Bathe your dream in prayer. If it really comes from God, He will help you accomplish it. As a matter of fact if that dream is from Him, He’ll probably have you dreaming bigger than you thought possible. Prayer helps you to be sensitive to His leading and encouragement.
And you’ll be surprised. Paul was passionate and he knew the key to seeing his passion through to fulfillment:
“I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:12-13, NKJV)
What things are you passionate about? Share it with other readers.