Marc Estes

I am sitting alone in Lake Tahoe at Alpen Sierra House sipping a fresh cup of hot coffee thoroughly enjoying my first day of summer vacation. I am not alone because I have no friends, it is just what I do while I wait for the rest of the family to wake up at the ‘crack of nine.’  I am reading one of my new magazines that I have wanted to read, but have had little time, and came across a statement that really got my attention.

Charles Swindoll is quoted from a conference saying, “One of my greatest goals in life is to live long enough to where I am in the pulpit, preaching my heart out, and I die on the spot, my chin hits the pulpit – BOOM! – and I am down and out.  What a way to die!”  Let that one germinate in y0ur thinker for a moment. Where is this guy coming from? Great goal in life? What about climbing Mount Everest or sailng around the world, or going on a safari, or even riding your bike in the Tour deFrance? But hitting your chin on the pulpit while preaching and dying?

I gulp another cup of my depth charge and sit back and realize, “Here is a guy that I can relate to. Maybe I am not crazy. Maybe it is o.k. to think about God and church all day long (obviously in between surges of thoughts and emotions about my great wife, kids and grand kids).  Maybe being passionate all the time about something purposeful is not an indictment on your refusal  to read Louie Lamore books on vacation (what is the point?). Some might call it being a work-a-holic, I might just choose to call it passion for God’s kingdom.

Don’t get me wrong; I am going to go to the beach, hang out with the wife, kids and grandkids and LOVE every second of it. I am passionate about my family. We are going to build sandcastles, go on hikes, play Marco Polo, and I will even let them win…most of the time. It is possible to have a passion for your family and ministry; they don’t have to conflict. In addition, recreation and relaxation have their place and finding balance is a true to key to ministry longevity.  But having a constant flow of passion pumping through your veins is not all that bad, in fact in might just be God.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said quite poignantly, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” The inference here is that what you are passionate about is exactly the thing you have the greatest potential of becoming.

God intended passion to be all-consuming, “[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight” (Phil. 2:13, AMP). God intended all-consuming passion to be for His good pleasure and delight. Passion is and must remain God-centered and God-focused.

So where is your passion focused? That passion you have for golf … where is it leading you? What about your passion for success … is it for God’s good pleasure and delight, or your own?

Passion directed by God is an unstoppable force. But make no mistake, the devil conspires to arrest your passion and redirect it to futile motives. Passion that isn’t carefully understood for its motive and regularly monitored for its effect has the potential to send anyone, even the most disciplined person, careening off course. This detour is, at minimum, a distraction and, in some cases, quite devastating.

John Maxwell said, “One of the greatest sins we commit against God is not reaching the potential he has placed in us.” Every person has been chosen, then given a purpose and a measure of passion. How you direct your passion in everyday life will greatly determine whether you are successful in fulfilling your purpose. Like a sharp knife in your kitchen drawer, passion can be extremely helpful or extremely harmful. It must be carefully directed and used for its intended purpose.

For many, being able to articulate a passion may be difficult, even though most of us have pursued our passions in some form or another. But have you ever taken time to define how God made you or to assess how your passions play a role in your overall makeup? Finding this important component just might be the thing that will propel you to a life of fruitfulness and fulfillment.

Well… my coffee is almost gone, and it is off to the beach.  It is going to be a great day.