Friday, December 20, 2013

Passion

   
     Passion is a nice student, but an overbearing teacher.  Passion is a beautiful child, but an unfit parent.  Passion is a lovely backdrop, but a center-stage disaster.  Passion is beautiful walls, but a lousy foundation.
     Passion brings color to my days and puts wind in my sails.  It inspires me and propels me forward.  It breaths hope and joy into life.
    But given too much power and  passion becomes a cruel taskmaster.  Passion puts me on  a chain and pulls me places I don't want to go.  One moment, I am happy, excited, in control.  The next moment, I am overwhelmed and despairing.  One moment, I am moving fast.  The next moment I am dead in my tracks.  I do not control my choices.  I have let passion take charge and the result is sure disaster.  Life presents a challenge.  Passion says, "You can't do this.  Don't even try."  And I despair.  People don't cooperate with me or treat me poorly.  Passion says, "You don't deserve this."  And I am angry.  Passion says, "People don't really like you."  And I am insecure.
     When passion is given supremacy, I am dropped down as easily as I am picked up.  I am jerked from joy to dismay with the click of a circumstance.  Passion becomes a prison that I feel incapable of escaping.  The gift becomes a curse.
      How can passion be restored to its rightful place in my life?  An occupant, but not the landlord.  A friend, but not a dictator?
     Paul felt passion when he writes to his Corinthian friends, ". . . we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death." (2 Corinthians 1:8,9)  Even the apostle Paul was overwhelmed by that hardness of life and felt the strong pull of emotional despair.  How does he counter passion?  How does he walk out of the prison of despair?
     The only antidote to passion is faith.  We counter passion with the truth of our faith.  The truth is that we belong to Christ.  The truth is that "with God all things are possible."  The truth is that "God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4).   The truth is that every one of us is "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works" (Ephesians 2:9).
     Paul counters with truth when he writes, "But that (our struggles) was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.  He delivered us from such a deadly peril and He will deliver us.  On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again." (2 Corinthians 1:9b, 10)
    Unbridled passion is a bully who crumples in the face of truth.  Passion is a straw-man that is easily knocked down by faith.
    Let Christ be supreme and let passion have it's rightful place:  a palette of colors in the hand of the Supreme Artist.  Let us trust in Him and not our passions.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The Canyon of Desire

We wait in the gap of wanting what we do not have.  That canyon of unmet longing is both deep and wide.  From where we stand, we can glimpse the other side and with all of our hearts, we long to be there.  It beckons us with its promise and beauty.

But the canyon is a formidable obstacle.  We hate it. . . and at times pretend it isn't there.  We  hug the periphery and look beyond at the loveliness of the other side.  We imagine ourselves there. . . no more pain, no more longing.  But inevitably our eyes return to the canyon.  Our enemy, it seems, threatens to consume us.

To descend into the canyon, to embrace our unmet desires,  seems the worst pain of all.   Beauty is swallowed up by darkness.   We descend and desire rises.  The tension seems unbearable.  Will we ever emerge from this canyon?  Will we ever reach the other side?  Every step echoes futility.

But deep in the canyon of desire, there lies a river.  Unseen by those standing at the top of canyon walls, this river lies deep in the dark bottoms.  It is a river that brings unexpected refreshment to the weary traveler, the discouraged soul.  It quenches thirst, revives hearts and imparts hope.  In the deep dark, desire becomes a door and hope lies on the other side.  Drink deep and linger in this place.  The walls of the canyon are still high, but here at the bottom of unmet desire, the paradox of peace envelops you.

The journey resumes. . . but you are not alone.  Desire has led you to the One who holds all desire.  And now, He holds you, supports you, steadies you and leads you.  The path is unclear and demanding; but you are held.  You cling and are comforted.  This "God-of-the-other-side," this "God-of-happy-endings" is with you in the dark.  The dreaded canyon has become holy ground.  You find hope rising in the midst of pain.  Desire has brought you here and now Love holds you.  You climb with your destination unseen; but each step is sacred.  You believe the One who leads you can be trusted.  And somehow, the journey itself takes on a bit of the beauty of your destination.

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,  the holy place where the Most High dwells."  Psalm 46:4