Passion is Ignited when the Fight gets Personal
By: Susan Deborah Schiller
The worst attacks have been aimed at my identity, my inheritance, and my story. That's why I continually say the words, "Be you. Be free. Tell your story."
Today I want to share how these trials can turn your greatest despair into a joyful life. It's only on the battlefield that you get this opportunity! That's where the fight gets personal.
It's on the battlefield that we get to experience God as he truly is. This level of encounter produces peace and rest, even when our outward circumstances makes us despair and wonder if we can ever trust God or anyone else again. It's in quiet and rest that we find the antidote to despair.
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. – Isaiah 30:15
Therefore, the number one area of attack is our quiet place – that state of being in rest.. The enemy keeps us busy, busy, busy (usually doing good, essential tasks) so that when we do get to relax, we just want to zone out. We flip on the television or radio or skim through the Internet.
We're often so busy doing that we forget we simply to be still and know God. It's in a state of rest that we find our next step and the provision to accomplish our mission.
"Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world." – Psalm 46:10
If we stay busy doing things outside of our passion, little by little, we fall asleep. If this non-rest becomes a habit we slip into a spiritual coma. We forget who we are and we're at risk for forfeiting our destiny.
The antidote to a robotic life is to give your all.
Therefore, trials are a wake up call.
Sometimes it takes an all-out attack to wake us up.
Passion is ignited when the fight gets personal!
Passion is the strongest emotion in our human experience.
It comes from enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm, when you go to the Hebrew root, means "full of fire" or "possessed by God". When we are enthusiastic about our passion, we think nothing of giving our all. We are "possessed" by God!
The demonstration of true passion is giving your all. The trials and enemy attacks bring the battlefield to your front door – it becomes personal. And what a blessing it is when you realize it's God himself who has custom designed the confrontation in order to fully wake you up, so that you can rise up and receive the provision to fulfill your passion – your purpose – in this world!
This is how I regained my ability to trust God.
This is how I have reconciled the justice of God against the increase of darkness in this world. I've simply begun to focus on the Light, to see God on the battlefield, and to discover the authority he's given me to change my circumstances and to profit from the predators.
Yes, the darkness is great. But my God is greater still. These attacks and trials have caused me to rise up and to take my rightful place, seated at the right hand of Christ, far above all principalities and rulers of this world.
If you feel overwhelmed by the ancient powers of darkness, including despair and the inability to trust God or people, it's normal. But may I invite you to join me in living out your true self by finding what you are most deeply passionate about, and taking a daily action step toward that passion?
It's as you walk in that passion that despair is defeated. It's as you bathe in the Light of Christ that depression is eradicated. It's in LIVING a FULL life that you get to laugh in the face of disaster.
Be you. Live free. Tell your story. Tell your HARD story! The harder the better. I mean it – inside your hardest story is where you'll find your passion. That's where the biggest treasure lies buried. Go for it. Dig it up. Write it in such a way that you discover something wonderful about God, yourself, and your mission.
Despair turns to joy. That's when God shows up and trust is restored. At least, that's how it began, for me. And remember, Jesus didn't trust people – he understood that we will fail each other, at times. And wicked people do evil. But there is a way to live in joy, peace, and love.
It begins by focusing on the Light, even in the hardest trials. Need help? Hope on over here where I'll give you a jump start with some great questions!
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With all my love,
Sue
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Instead of positions, we operate in passions.