Passion Not Equal Go...
We are all designed to live with PASSION,
But I think we lack wisdom when we encounter it.
PASSION feels so good,
It can be easily mistaken,
As permission from God to GO,
When it may be a only FIRST,
Of many more clues to come,
On God's DIVINE plan for you.
If you look at scripture,
Joseph, Moses, Esther, Jesus,
They all had great purpose,
But man!
They went through it!
Years or decades of waiting, training, pruning and processing.
In today's world,
We take any form of PASSION that God gives us,
And run with it using our HUMAN intellect,
LACKING any processing with God,
And getting weird HUMAN results.
Then we are left wondering,
The PASSION is there,
But the results are not,
What's going on?
Am I supposed to be doing this?
Why is this so hard?
I thought God put it on my heart?
However...
Instead of seeing passion as a FRUIT,
We need to see it more as a SEED,
And that would change everything.
The danger in seeing passion a FRUIT is,
A FRUIT is an end product,
And tend to treat it as permission to MOVE,
We often pluck it and GO!
But when see passion as a SEED,
It must be watered, nurture, and waited on,
And waited on, and waited on.
It forces us to slow down and seek God for details.
So the NEXT time you are passionate about something,
Before you DO anything,
Try these 3 steps...
1) Ask God Questions
(Write each question down as you ask them.)
"Is this passion from You?"
"What do you want me to do with this passion?"
"What are you trying to tell me?"
"Is there anything you want me to do?"
(If yes) "When? How?"
2) Listen.
Get quiet.
Let the silence hang for up to 1 minute or until you get an answer.
Breathe, relax your body and quiet your mind,
With child-like faith,
EXPECT an answer from the loving Father above.
Take your time.
Enjoy the silence (1 minute is way longer than you think).
With child-like faith write down ANYTHING you see, sense or hear.
Don't over think it. Keep it light.
Just write down whatever comes to mind.
3) Ask for Details
Ask at least 3 follow-up questions like these below to get more details.
"Anything else?"
"Tell me more?"
"Can you make that clear?"
Listen for up to 1 minute each and write down anything you get.
Rinse and repeat this for 1 week MINIMUM.
Keep track of all the answers you get for the next week and review them at the end of 1 week or 7 sessions of Q&A with God.
Yes, ask the same questions everyday.
Yes, write down the answers everyday.
Yes, it is repetitive.
Yes, it may be "boring".
Yes, it will test your patience.
Yes, do it anyways.
You see this in the bible...
Daniel, the spiritual giant, sat with His question for 21 days...
Soooo... 1 week is a bare minimum for us common folk, right? ^_-
After 1 week, if it's not clear, then go for 1-2 more weeks.
This is what SEEKING God and sitting with Him looks like.
God is not a vending machine,
He is not a pop tart,
We must learn to take more time with God and ENJOY His presence while we wait.
Remember this is part of BUILDING a relationship with God,
Trusting in His timing,
Allowing Him to work IN us,
Work things OUT of us,
Work THROUGH us.
It's HIS timing,
Not ours.
His timing is PERFECT,
We're a disaster.
Cheers to SLOWING things down.
Cheers to NOT moving on PASSION but treating it as a SEED and SEEKING God for details.
Soooo goooood!
It's worth it.
