Passion

Recently, I have been asked the questions, “What is it that you like to do?” and “What is it that you are passionate about?” Seems like an easy question, right? Seems like something easy to respond to. For some reason I have not been able to answer that question in the simple, clear, or concise way I was once able to years ago.

When you ask most people that question, “What is it in life that you like to do,” you most likely get answers that are similar to the following: I like to play tennis. I like to sew, I love skiing. I like to paint. I love to travel, etc. Those “It” things are the passions in that person’s life. Those are the things (besides the general answers of spending time with family, etc) that if they had to pick one thing they personally enjoy doing most, that is “It.”

My amazingly talented and athletic fiancé has a love for the outdoors. He reintroduced me to an old friend of mine from childhood….the bike. Phil isn’t just good at cycling. He is REALLY good. Me, on the other hand..well, let’s just say that the bicycle helmet was invented for people like me. I enjoy riding with him, and I appreciate the joy he has for it. We recently went for a short hike through the woods. I think I could really get into hiking. I liked it. It was fun, and I really enjoyed my time with him doing it and sharing those moments with him. It has been good for me to do these things because I have somehow, the past few years drifted away from being outdoors and enjoying what it has to offer.

There are lots of things I enjoy doing. However, they just don’t seem like the fitting answer to that question about what I am personally truley passionate about. There was a time in my life, not so long ago, that I was a different person. Sadly enough, I wasn’t exactly “getting it” when it came to a few things in my relationship with the Lord. I was a Christian then. However, I wasn’t living life in a way that was encompassed by the Lord’s will. Back then, I would have answered the question above much differently than I am about to attempt now.

I remember the moment so clearly. I was standing in the midst of poor in Romania. They were all around me sobbing. Some crying out for joy and thankfulness to the Lord (even though they had so little by society’s standards). Some were crying out in desperation and pain. Although they seemed to have nothing, they had so much. They were “getting it” more than I was in life. I stood amongst them as if hit by a truck. It was then the Lord hit me and hit me hard. I suddenly “Got It” and had a silent and very intimate moment with the Lord. Up until that point, I was living my life for me and asking for His help and wisdom along the way. In that moment, He revealed to me the importance of living life for HIM. It was there in that little church in the Gypsy village that I felt Him and made a promise to live my life for Him instead of for me.

From that point forward, my passion in life has been to serve Him. The joy and blessings that have been bestowed upon me are not worthy of words to describe. I cannot explain the pure joy I feel when I am intentionally and actively serving Him. The taste of it is sweeter than any other I have had. The feeling was once something I heard people talk about but never knew what it felt like to be a part of. The feeling of being in His will and serving Him while feeling His presence, is one that cannot be replicated. It’s something that once you get a true taste of it, you can’t help but want more and more.

A passion for serving, helping those in need, caring for an orphan child, lending a hand to one of the least of these in different capacities. I suppose to many, it seems strange to have this as a passion. However, that is my answer. My passion is actively serving the Lord. There are many things I enjoy doing in life, but none even come close enough to compare. I long to base my life around it.

We know that in the Bible, when Moses saw the glory of the Lord, he was changed. He was changed so much so that his physical appearance changed. I used to often speak to others in presentations and messages about this transformation and was reminded of it recently in a message at church. When someone gets that close to Him, they change… period. I saw the Lord that morning in the small church in Romania. He met me there, and I was changed.

I enjoy many things in life. However, what is “IT” that I enjoy doing most in life? Serving Him. What is my favorite thing to do? Serve Him. This revelation didn’t come to me just by being raised in or attending church. It didn’t come to me by occasionally volunteering time and talents or giving to worthy causes. It didn’t even come to me by way of being a Christian. It came to me when I was seeking. It came to me when I was longing to see Him. It came to me when I said yes to serving and got up and did it. That passion is intense and I only taste it when I am actively serving. Hard to explain, but it is amazing. I find that my answer isn’t the most popular response to the posed question at times. It isn’t the answer that all understand, are looking for, can relate to, or are expecting. Maybe that is why I seem to have a hard time explaining it or answering. However, it is what it is, and I pray that I never lose it. Of all the things He has given to us to enjoy, to savor, to appreciate, and to love doing….that is my personal “IT.” Servanthood.


Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Peter 4:10-11