Purposes and Passions

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (New Living Translation)

1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven. 2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest. 3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up. 4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance. 5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away. 6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak. 8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

This morning I dreamed. I explored a secret wish--a longing that is rising up within me.

It has been stirring, deep in my heart, but hidden, held in reserve for a future time--not quite now.

Today I brought my dream; my passion; out and looked at it. I turned it over in my hands and prayed over it.

At church today our pastor spoke from Romans 12 on spiritual gifts.

He shared a delightful story from his childhood about attending a vacation bible school.

The children worked making moccasins out of real leather. He said that it was really cool and if you got finished early, you could even put on some decorative beadwork.

Each day he could hardly wait to go to vacation bible school. He imagined himself as Daniel Boone. Growing up on the farm as he did, surrounded by woods, he had lots of room for such imaginative play.

He said that the moccasins didn't quite turn out as he'd imagined. They were a little too big and they kept falling off, "But," he said, "for a while I was "in the zone."" I think he meant that he was doing something he felt passionately involved with--something that superceded interest in anything else.

That's how it feels when we're doing the thing that God made us for. Not to find that thing must surely be the greatest tragedy.

Dear Lord, Dream-giver--I give my dreams to you for safe keeping. Joseph's dreams did not materialize immediately but he expressed them out loud, even though they seemed bold and outrageous.

Father I am content to place my dreams in your hands. I know your heart. I know that you place desires in our hearts--and you grant the desires of our hearts.

Psalm 126:1-3 (New King James Version)
1 When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
3 The LORD has done great things for us,
And we are glad.

Comments

Dave Hingsburger said…
I so relate to what your pastor was saying. I, too, know what it's like to be 'in the zone' to be so consumed by what I'm doing that 'me' disappears. Occasionally when I'm writing and lecturing, it happens. It seems that I've stepped out of the flow of time and into a kind of stillness that can only be described as holy. Great post, Dave
5:53 AM
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