Turning Passion into Action

 In God's will, Life

My story of healing from cancer is well-known here on this blog. So much of my life has been affected by that single event, that it’s not rare for some reference to that experience to pop up several times a month in various blogs on various topics. It’s unavoidable because that experience left fingerprints on virtually every event that has followed (and, sometimes even preceded) it. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though. It would and could be a bad thing if every time you heard me mention cancer, it was in a context of anger, bitterness, or self-pity. More likely than not, though, when I bring that time in my life up, it’s out of a place of passion, empathy, or realization. You see, I couldn’t walk through such a life-altering time and remain unchanged by it. It did something deep inside of me. It ignited a passion the likes of which I had never known, the likes of which I have yet to recover from, and don’t really want to.

My passion to help people was always intrinsic to my nature, but it wasn’t until I walked through my journey with cancer that the passion turned from a well-intentioned emotional free-for-all, to a more clear, directed passion-driven action. I allowed God’s Spirit to take all my feelings and turn them into something far more satisfying and fulfilling: a passion-driven zeal to accomplish something to impact God’s Kingdom and change lives for the better. I let my passion get turned into action, and have been using that passion to try to help people ever since.

The hard times in life that you have gone through are not coincidental. Chances are that the darkest days of your life also hit on subjects that are now amongst your most passionate hot topics. And that’s a good thing! No one can talk to someone who has recently been diagnosed with cancer like I (or another fellow survivor) can, because it is all-too-easy for me to put myself back in that place of receiving startling news, and immediately empathize with them on an extremely personal level. What about you? Did you come from a background of abuse? Maybe you’ve already realized that all it takes is someone opening up to you about a similar history for you to feel an instant connection and ignition of that burning passion that courses through your veins whenever the word abuse is even mentioned. Or maybe for you it’s a past that is marred by depression, anxiety, or fear. Have you not noticed how passionately you speak to others who are struggling with those same circumstances now?

So what are you going to do about it? There is a great tragedy that occurs when we experience our pain and keep it to ourselves. We’ve walked through these things for a reason! It may just surprise you to find that the ever-allusive “destiny” you’ve been striving to discover is easier to decipher than you thought: simply find what makes you passionate, and turn that passion into action! Find the things that burn your blood, and then find a way to make that passion into a calling. I think you can almost always safely assume God is in something, when you find that you go from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds flat based solely on someone asking you to talk about your experience with x, y, or z.

Today, examine your heart and sort through all the mediocre until only the truly passionate, blood-boiling topics remain. From there, it’ll be far easier to realize what it is that God has in store for you. After all, you’ll be most useful in areas where your passion is clearly being utilized to make a difference in others. Turn your passion into action, and watch as God brings you to new levels of fulfillment!

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