Rekindling Joy By Pursuing Our Passions

We all have it–that burning desire to do something great, something fun, something we love that sparks a passion in us. Unfortunately, we all have other things too do–obligations to family and friends, church responsibilities, jobs, a home to maintain, children to feed and take to activities, maybe even homeschool. It is truly a modern miracle if we can get everything done and fall down in exhaustion every night.

Sometimes we lose our joy in the process. We can rekindle our joy by pursuing our passions, but fitting in one more thing just isn’t an option. Or is it?

Where Did We Get Our Passion?

The passions inside of us were put there by God. He designed us with specific purposes in mind. Whether our passion is painting, singing, dancing, writing, or any number of things, God placed it there as a unique part of who we were created to be. If God put our passions inside of us, who are we to ignore them?!

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 ESV

How Can We Make Time for Our Passions?

If passions are important to fulfilling the work God laid out for us, we need to make time for them. How much we can do depends on the season of life God has put you in. We are all busy and we have to be realistic. Certain circumstances make it difficult, but not impossible, to live out our passions in a way that will honor God. If you we caring for sick family, maybe this is just a time where our dreams take shape. If we have small children, we might be tired, but perhaps we can take a few minutes during nap time or bed time to work toward our goals. Maybe we need to figure out how to get a babysitter for a day or get our kids engaged in an activity so they will be focused and allow you to work.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV

If you really want to commit to living out your passions, I highly suggest figuring out how much we can commit and writing it into our calendar. Even setting aside 10 minutes a day will result in 300 or more minutes per month (5 hours) towards making your passions a reality. That would be more than 60 hours a year! Imagine what you could accomplish in 60 hours!

A Gift For You

Writing down your goals and make them more tangible. I have included a planner page for your convenience.
Fill it out and make the commitment. Then print it again and reevaluate how you are doing. Once you have gotten rolling, you might be ready to commit more time.

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Resistance

Anything worth doing will meet resistance. It won’t be easy at first, but if we commit to doing it, it will get easier. Plus, once we have committed 10 minutes, we will probably not want to stop and end up accomplishing even more!

Don’t tell yourself your passions aren’t important. When you commit those passions to God, you could very well be using them to make an eternal difference. Find someone to support you and hold you accountable.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 ESV

Go For It!

When we reach the end of our lives, we want to hear Jesus say those amazing words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” We want to know that we didn’t ignore those nudgings of the Holy Spirit to do something with the passions inside of it. Make this the year you finally pursue your passions. May you find more joy and meaning in your life, and be refueled to do a better job at all those other irons you have in the fire too. God bless!

What passion are you going make a reality this year?

Tara is a homeschool mom who lives in Nashville, TN with her family of 5. Visit her at MinivanMinistries.com, where she blogs about making Jesus the driving force in your family. Her goal is to help you help your kids fall in love with Jesus. You can also hang out with her on FaceBook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and follow MinivanMin on Periscope. Thanks for reading!