Has Your Spiritual Passion Deserted You?
It is natural to have our passion for Jesus and the spiritual life to ebb and flow just like other relationships in our lives. But in those times of extended barrenness, it is often helpful to know why our passion has left us so that we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit to get it back.
Pastor and author Gordon MacDonald refers to this spiritual barrenness as a loss of passion for our first love Jesus Christ. In his book, Restoring Your Spiritual Passion, he lists seven conditions that threaten our spiritual lives, that left unattended will lead us into a spiritual wasteland. He describes them as seven conditions that rob us of our passion for Jesus and leave us feeling indifferent to the things of God. The result is we are more excited about our jobs, our hobbies, vacations to exotic destinations, entertainment of all kinds and the toys that we own than we are about living for Jesus. As I go through each of them I would ask that you consider which, if any, of these distractions apply to you and if you believe that it is possibly stealing away your zest for living the life that God would have for you.
1. Drained condition. This one is easy to understand in that it is a common experience for many of us. Too often we try and cram 10 days of activities into 7 days and then do not allow any time for rest when we are done. A medical doctor by the name of Richard Swenson has written a book Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives. In it he talks of the importance of leaving room in one’s schedule in order that we can avoid a pace of life that leaves us drained and feeling hurried or pressured. Seasons where we are unusually busy are common to us all but when it becomes a lifestyle we will find ourselves drained and listless. Rest is an essential part of a healthy life.
2. Dried out condition. This is similar to the drained condition in that these people find themselves in the same place, but for a very different reason. In the former they are exhausted because the demand was too great, but here they are drained because they have not taken enough in. Just as we need food and water to maintain our physical lives, we need to engage in the spiritual disciplines of worship, bible study, prayer, meditation, fasting etc, in order to maintain our spiritual lives. We can ignore this aspect of life but if we do so we run the risk of making shipwreck of our faith.
3. Distorted condition. It is a documented fact that we are subjected to an incredible number of persuasive messages every day. Some experts believe that we are exposed to some 2000 messages each day through radio, television and the print media to buy this product, to support this cause, a new philosophy to consider etc. For the most part we simply block out most of them, but their combined effect does have an impression on us and affects our ability to make sound decisions based upon inner values and convictions. It is the world seeking to press us into its mold and calling us to base our life values and decisions upon the philosophy of the world instead of the Word of God.
4. Devastated condition. This is the weariness that comes from a prolonged battle with vigorous opposition. Incidents of ridicule, persecution and spiritual warfare repeated over a period of time slowly begin to work at one’s inner resolve and resistance. The apostle Paul wrote of it to the believers at Corinth when he told of his experience in Asia “that we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8-11). In speaking to others about Christ we will be rejected and scorned and maybe ridiculed and this opposition represents a threat to our spiritual passion.
5. Disillusioned condition. This could also possible be described as the death of a dream. It is one of those moments when something that you want very, very badly doesn’t happen. You invest great personal energy in a relationship but it falls apart. You do all the right things to make your dream come true but it never happens. These experiences are painful and we are tempted to withdraw and never dream again. Spiritual passion is dissolved and for a time there is no fight within.
6. Defeated condition. We are sometimes weary of the personal defeat that is so prevalent in our lives and so we give up. We all have besetting sins, and try as we might, we fail to achieve victory over them. The devil seems to mock us, reminding us of our failure and our inability to gain victory in certain areas of our lives. We awake one day and suddenly feel totally incapable of living up to the standards of the faith. We have made promises and commitments for the tenth or maybe the one-hundredth time and were not able to keep them. This is the human condition and if we live as defeated people there never can be any passion in our lives.
7. Disheartened condition. This final state is one in which our passion is squelched by the circumstances of our lives. We adopt a view in which people, events and circumstances are more powerful than the God of our faith. We are intimidated and become fearful not unlike the spies sent in to view the land promised to the people, Israel. When we are in this condition our lives are characterized by unbelief and discouragement.
In addition to experiencing all the consequences attendant with each of these conditions, the enemy often is also there to bring his condemnation for not being as excited about the things of God as we once were. But we must reject those thoughts and rather turn our energy to implementing a plan that addresses the unique challenges of our condition. The Holy Spirit is waiting to lead us out of the wilderness we just need to say yes and be restored.
Author
Pastor Bruce is the Executive Director of God's Living Stones. He lives in Omaha, NE, with his wife Barb. They have two adult children.
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