Give Out of Your Passion

Once when I was taking on a new writing job for a missions organization, I met the man I’d be working for in the parking lot of a local coffee shop for him to give me a book I needed.

We introduced ourselves and talked for a few moments. And then as we parted ways, he said this — “I want you to write about the things that keep you up at night. What keeps you up at night?”

The Passions You Have

We all have things that keep us up at night. That could mean passions like planning fun trips for your grandchildren, cycling, sewing, reading, teaching — anything. It could also mean passions like caring for women with crisis pregnancies or the homeless.

Whatever it is you’re passionate about, what are you doing to use that for the sake of the gospel? Can you find a new place to volunteer this month and use that passion? God wired you the way He did for a reason — and He has specific places in mind where you can use those things you’re interested in.

The Passions You Don’t Have Yet

In one particular season of my life, I remember listening to my pastor give an impassioned plea for us to pray for and go to the thousands of lost people around the world who were dying daily without ever hearing the gospel. As he talked about them, his voice cracked, and he held back tears.

And I remember being hit at that moment by the realization that what he was talking about should make me feel more than it did. I knew it mattered. But it wasn’t enough to sway me to respond or even actively care.

I began praying for God to break my heart for the things that break His heart. I didn’t want to hear numbers like that and not be moved.

Just because you don’t have a natural passion for the things of God — things like orphan care or making disciples of the lost — doesn’t mean you shouldn’t or can’t. God tells us in Scripture those are the things we’re to be about, and we should not only do them but also pray for God to conform our hearts to care about them as He does.

If you’re up at night and you don’t know why, then use that time to pray for God to give you a passion for what He’s passionate about.