Focus: Finding Your God-Given Passion
I’ve always been drawn to writing and words.
When I reflect on my life, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t feel an innate urge to write, to create, to explore words and combinations of words to craft them into art. It’s always been there, part of the threads and fabric woven together to create my unique self.
As I sit here and write, I glance up at my bookcase, and the top shelf is filled with journal after journal, years and years of memoirs, prayers, gratitude praise, lament, and longing. Out of my periphery on my desk are two journals–one for prayer and one where I scribble my ideas. My trash can is full of post-it notes.
Words are my passion.
Words are my calling.
I could sit here and tell you that I have been faithful to this calling my whole life, that it’s been all sunshine and roses, and that I’m a living example of what it looks like to focus on your passion and calling your entire life, but that would be a lie.
So, here’s one thing I’ve learned about our world–we tend to place a ton of emphasis on a very skewed version of success. At least, that has been my experience. If I were to ask Americans today what success looks like, their answers would look something like this in this order (according to Google–but I tend to agree)
Income
Dream Job
Relationships
Recognition
Let’s take a minute and break those things down.
For the majority of Americans, money is the paramount indicator of success. In order to have money, they have to procure their dream job, which provides them with said money. Somewhere along the way, they might find some fulfilling relationships, and they are always seeking recognition.
The super idealistic side of me wants to argue with this idea and make outrageous, unproven claims about how they are surely false. The realistic side of me, though, recognizes, sadly, the reality of this idea.
This is accurate for the majority of the people I know, and I can’t say I was all that different for the majority of my life. My definition of success included all of these things.
Shifting Perspectives
It’s one thing to be able to look at these societal markers of success, but it’s another thing completely to shift our perspective on them. That shift in perspective can happen for a variety of reasons:
A life-altering traumatic event
Loss
A life-changing God moment
Illness
Near Death Experience
Those are just a few, and I’m sure there are more I’ve left out, but the common denominator for a shift in perspective is a catalyst that results in a light bulb moment so enormous you can’t help but act on it.
I’ve had several of these in my life, and the reason I’ve had several is that I clearly didn’t shift my perspective or listen to what God was telling me the first couple of times around! What can I say, I’m a little hard-headed at times. Regardless, I’ve made the shift now, and I want to encourage you to think about what shifting your perspective from society’s view of success to God’s calling and vision in your life might look like.
What’s your Passion?
If I had to make an educated guess, I would assume there are some of you reading this and thinking you don’t have a passion. I’ve heard that from so many people. The thing is, God created each of us as unique individuals with unique interests and passions. Sometimes, it just takes a little understanding to see what that passion is or to acknowledge it and put voice to it.
Why?
Because Satan is a jerk. He’s the father of lies. His entire purpose on this earth is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Consequently, his goal is to convince you that God hasn’t given you a passion, that he can’t/won’t use you, and that you are unqualified and unworthy.
Does that hit home with anyone?
I still struggle with those lies.
While I know Satan is a liar and only here to steal, kill, and destroy, let me tell you what else I know that trumps Satan–God is the giver of life, and his desire for each of us is that we would have life and have it to the fullest–that’s the rest of that verse.
If that’s not quite enough encouragement for you, it’s okay, I get it. So, chew on this one too:
God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
(Ephesians 3:20 Message)
God can do more than we could ever imagine in our wildest dreams. The TPT translates it as “infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination.” The NIV says “immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine.”
When Satan starts to fill your head with lies, I hope you remember this verse and tell Satan to get out of your head!
I want you to stop reading right now, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, pray for a little guidance, and really meditate on what passion God has placed in your heart.
So many people hear the word passion or vision and they think it has to be something seemingly huge in the eyes of society. That’s not it at all, though. For some people, it might be, but for the rest of us, our passions might look like this:
Always cheering on and lifting up the underdog
Serving kids and the children’s ministry
Organization
Cooking
Helping People
Offering Encouragement
Holding Space for the Hurting
Fixing things
Landscaping
Creating Beauty
Media Production
Active Listening
I could go on and on, and there’s part of me that really wants to, but there’s the other part of me who is confident that God is faithful and will reassure you right now by laying on your heart what it is he wants you to hear.
Focus on your Passion:
Hopefully, by now, you have a strong sense of what it is that God has placed in you as your passion.
Let’s talk about what happens now.
God’s probably not telling you to quit your job and focus on your passion, but he might be. That’s between you and Him.
Here’s what I do know.
Psalms 37:4-5 says:”Find your delight and true pleasure in Yahweh, and he will give you what you desire the most. Give God the right to direct your life, and as you trust him along the way, you’ll find he pulled it off perfectly!”
I used to think this verse meant that if I loved God, he would give me what my heart desired, but my age and wisdom (lol) have changed the way I see this verse. I was focusing on the wrong thing here, putting the emphasis on the wrong part of this. Instead of focusing on the part about God giving me what I desire most, I needed to be focusing on the first part: finding my delight and true pleasure in God.
This is where your passion comes into the picture.
Our first priority, our first focus should be on delighting in the pleasure of God. In doing that, we open ourselves up to allowing God to mold that passion he revealed to us in exactly what he wants it to be. As he is molding us and our passion, because we are seeking him and allowing him, God will direct our lives.
As he directs our lives, he will reveal the different ways he wants us to focus on and use our passions in the world around us. Instead of those passions he’s given us simply being these abstract subconscious ideas that are living in our brains, God will cultivate them and create the opportunities for us to truly use them.
Trust God with your Passion
One key part of Psalm 37:5 is where David reminds us we have to allow God to direct our lives and trust him along the way to pull it off perfectly. That means that our human instinct to take control and to make our own decisions we seem to think are best has to submit to the guidance and the direction of God.
That means that just because we’re good at something, it doesn’t mean God is calling us to do it.
That means that just because we might think something is a good short-term solution, God might have different plans.
That means that job or that promotion that will take up way too much of your time might bring in more money, but that isn’t necessarily what God has planned for you.
Too often our American view of success interferes with our God-given callings and passions. God has given each of us different passions, and he wants us to use them for his glory. We have to seek him, though, and trust the journey he’s laid out for us if we are truly going to see our passions become all that God has planned for us.
It’s my prayer that God will speak to your heart and show you if your vision of success is interfering with his calling for you and your passion, that God will show you clearly what your passion is, and that you will commit to allowing God to direct your path and trusting him along the way.
Reflection Questions:
When you paused, breathed, and asked God to reveal your passion, what came to mind?
How are you currently using your passion?
How are your views of success interfering with your use of your passion for God?
What is one way you can commit to seeking God and his purpose for you daily?
If you know your passion, but you’re unsure what to do with it or when God is going to ask you to use it, and you feel like you’re stuck in a waiting pattern, let me offer this song to encourage you. I heard it while I was writing, and I knew I was supposed to share it with you today.
