When you are not passionate anymore toward something (job, church activities, etc) or someone maybe, what would you do?
In this case, we are talking about you who are a Christian reading and listening to His Words, praying, etc whatever we do as a Christian. So the problem is not that we are not spending more time with Him, but we just lose the passion we once had. Someway somehow you know that your time doing that thing or be with the person is not yet finished.
That happened with me and my church pianist position. My passion for that ministry died a slow painful death over a period of about 3 years. I did everything I could to renew that passion, but nothing worked. I also did not feel God releasing me from my position. Then, earlier this year, I felt that it was finally time to go. I resigned, and I've not regretted it for one minute. Once in a while a miss it, but God has been able to use me in other areas since then...areas I would not have been available for had I continued to be the pianist.
I think 'sometimes' passion is about delving into something new, discovering things unknown, seeing what is around the next corner. When all is exhausted, when all is seen and tasted, when all is conquered we have a tendency to lose interest, to lose passion. When we lose passion for God the only answer can be ; we have been deceived, thinking we know all there is to know about God, we have experienced all He has to for us, thinking we have gleaned all that scripture and walking with Him has to offer......what a lie from the pit of hell!
In todays modern economy instant gratification is the norm, not so in Gods economy. Sometimes we lose the passion because we are impatient or to lazy, timid or weak to persevere.
We all have this idea that the Kingdom of God is a free gift that gently floats down from above right into our lap and enters our heart.
Matt 11:12. "........the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it"
The reality is we all lose passion from time to time, but if you have true love; it fills in those gaps. True love is more than a feeling it is a act of your will.
As for men and women; I have this advice : Be willing to share ALL you
are with another, but not all at once. Spreading it out over time will help keep passion alive!
I agree with our resident piano musician. Losing passion for a particular thing may be Gods way of saying " it is time for you to move on" . The way I have dealt with this is I pray asking for a renewed passion for this activity it he wants me to continue with it. If the passion comes I stay if not I move on. And sometimes we just need a break.
@BC: thank you for sharing the story. I'm kinda feeling I'm in the similar position where u once were..
@Twosparrows: sigh. To be honest, what u just told me in ur first post is the last thing I want to hear now. I have tried all things but just like BC said, slowly dying is probably just the right word to describe the whole situation. Hearing that feels like I did nothing about it. I appreciate and thank u for ur post tho but I feel like a little condemned by what u said, I dun believe u did but someway somehow I just feel that way. And like I said before, it wasn't like I felt my time was over, I tried other directions but it seemed all the doors are closed, I tried over and over until I came to the conclusion of my time has not finished yet. So, I'm staying in the process but what should I do to have that passion back until my time is over?
Thanks for reminding to pray asking for passion :) I will do it now.
there was no condemnation intended. The Bible is clear there is a time for everything under the sun. Even God has created the seasons, winter comes but spring always follows. We all go through it. I presume this to be personal and I haven't pried. I was only concerned that you might be losing your passion for God, something I think every Christian struggles with from time to time. If it is a activity or some thing God has called you to in the past I wouldn't lose any sleep over it......just pray then move on or not....God has your back!
A diminished Passion is not something new to Christians. Every Christian has gone through it�even those that we consider Exceptional Christians.
They would have their doubts�they would chastize themselves, but they knew that this was just a �dry� period�a time of �darkness� that they would have to go through.
They also �knew� that God would Refresh them in time and that they would be Renewed and Refreshed and then they could resume their �Passion�.
Isaiah went through it�went through a time of doubt�of diminished ardor � of Passion � of belief.
Isaiah Ch 6: 5-10
5 �Woe to me!� I cried. �I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.�
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, �See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.�
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, �Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?�
And I said, �Here am I. Send me!�
9 He said, �Go and tell this people:
��Be ever hearing, but NEVER UNDERSTANDING;
be ever seeing, but NEVER PERCEVING.�
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their EARS DULL
and CLOSE THEIR EYES.[a]
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.�
I believe that God allows us to �dry up� in order for us to realize that our Passion comes from Him�from Christ. And also perhaps as a way of �Testing� us. But Ultimately, it is all for The Glory of God. We have to persevere.
Romans 8:28-39 (NIV)
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.
Throughout the History of The Church we read about Outstanding Christians that have gone through similar experiences.
My suggestion is not to despair. Take a break and try some new aspect of your Faith. In time you will find a renewed sense of Passion. Ya think?
One of the best things you can do is change what you're doing. I like to suggest people start studying the Psalms because they're so different than the New Testament (or even most of the Old Testament). Instead of reading truth about God, we're reading the Psalmists singing truth about God to God.
Also, maybe try working in a podcast sermon in the day if you can. John Piper has amazing sermons that have seriously impacted my walk. Like Twosparrows said, pray, pray, pray, pray!
Seasons come and seasons go, but when things are gonna change you can't always know. Personally I believe seasons are part of God's design to remind us that this present age is just a season that will pass as we come into Eternity. It sucks, but we all go through it. Just keep plodding on!
My current employment - I used to love love love it; would take stuff home with me to work on sometimes, would be thinking of ways to do better, work late, etc., but the last few years, my passion for it has totally left. I have to work extra hard to stay motivated. I keep these verses in mind:
Col 3:23-24: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Me getting off-task, even if others didn't know about it, would not be working as I would for the Lord. I've applied for other jobs, but to no avail. My only guess as to why all employment opportunities have been shut down is the Lord still has something for me to do there. Either I haven't done it yet, or it's soon to come. Please Lord, use me, then open a door to something I love to do!!
I like this answer~ as a Christian for 38 years, I know dry spells come and we can never think that we ourselves do the works of faith without His passion or being "behooved" by His spirit in us.
Good works without Christ in us are just acts of humanity and will get us nowhere in the Kingdom of Love. Jesus will reward His own.
Sometimes the cloud moves and we must follow the cloud or the well dries up to move us on to the next one. Keeping our eyes on the Author and Finisher of our faith is the high calling and will get us home safe. :purpleangel:
