“So the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart." – Nehemiah 2:2
The Book of Nehemiah is filled with leadership and faith lessons. But verse 2 shows the heart behind his journey. It shows the fact that Nehemiah’s desire to rebuild the wall was so strong, that it impacted his demeanor beyond his ability to conceal it. His passion was great.
We all have passions. Some are personal and self-serving. Some come from within ourselves and are for the greater good. And others are simply God ordained. How do we know the difference?
There are times we must take steps in the unknown, hoping that in faith we find our way. That’s part of the journey. But I also firmly believe that there is a place where faith in the unknown can be overtaken by a simple opportunity to follow in obedience. What I mean by that is when God makes it so obvious He is leading, that follow through becomes a moral imperative.
This is the place where passion is found. The place where the conviction is so strong, His hand is so evident, and His Word so clear, that it consumes us.
So what are we praying for? Are our prayers filled with the simple, mundane, or even selfish? While I believe God cares about the intimate details of our lives… we do not thrive in those things. We thrive in the areas of God’s great movement. We thrive in the areas where our passion focuses on something beyond us. We thrive in finding such a worthy calling as rebuilding the wall.
My wall has become obvious. It’s the bricks, the mortar, and the workers who have become my daily passion, and the city within.
“There was an immediate answer to his prayer; for the seed of Jacob never sought the God of Jacob in vain.” – M. Henry
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I'll be open and very transparent, my passion is lacking. It is not that I don't have a good life. I have a GREAT life. There is no chaos. There is no big trouble or emergency. I just don't feel real passionate about anything. I know that I should have passion to build God's Kingdom. I know I should have passion to keep spreading God's words and teaching. I know I should have passion for my job. It seems that lately most of my thoughts have floated back to my family. I can not wait until the summer not because I get out of work but, because I get to see my family as much and whenever I want to. I just don't feel much of a fire in my soul. My thought is that life is full of dark times. These dark times are what God uses to see if we will stay close to Him or if we will look elsewhere for our passion. I am working on staying close and asking God what He wants instead of changing everything up in my life. Nehemiah was a man of great passion. You nailed it on the head there. I can only read and ponder and try to remember what that passion was like for me.
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