Find Your Passion

1 Kings 3:1-4:34 Acts 6:1-15 Psalm 126:1-6 Proverbs 16:26-27

“There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” Nelson Mandela said that. From 27-year prisoner to president of South Africa, he never settled for a lesser life than the one God created him for. In our reading for today, we have the record of another national leader who, by God’s power, pursued with passion the fulfillment of the capabilities God had given him. Perhaps President Mandela was influenced by today’s story of King Solomon. I see in today’s reading four key steps laid out for us: glorify God, believe in your capabilities, recognize your limitations, ask and receive from God what you need to find your passion and excel for Him in serving others.

When I first met personally with Pastor Mark Brand at Hillcrest Church-- after his arrival and before I even pursued pastoral ministry here-- his advice and prayer for me that day was that I, like King Solomon, would ask of God whatever I wanted and that God would answer the desire of my heart. How’s that for great advice and prayer? I went home that day and re-read 1 Kings Chapter 3. It has been of pivotal importance to me ever since. Let me elaborate on the four steps I see in this reading.

Step one: Glorify God and live your life to do that. Give it all to Him in worship, in sacrifice, in prayer. We see in 1 Kings 3 that Solomon “loved the Lord” and showed that love by “walking according to the instructions given him by his father David” and that he “sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings.” In that context of adoration, God spoke to Solomon and asked him what he desired. What do we do, first of all to be born again and give our lives to Christ, and then daily, what do we do, to pick up our cross and follow Him, to sacrifice it all for God?

Step two: Believe in your capabilities to serve. As new creations in Christ Jesus, our capabilities to serve people are off the chart. We need to believe that with passion. Like Solomon, we need to recognize our positions, our roles, the things God has given us to do in life and each day for the people we serve. Note Solomon’s words, “Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count.” What are our unique God-given capacities to serve today? What do we do best and what is it that only we can do?

Step three: Recognize your limitations. Solomon said, “I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.” In humility, once with passion we have identified our capabilities, we must identify the gaps—what it takes for us to maximize our capabilities and find our passion. How do we spot weaknesses within our areas of strength and work on them?

Step four: Ask and Receive. God is waiting for us to ask the right question and to receive His answer. He wants to add his super to our natural. God wants us to find our passion, what it is He has for us. God really does want to hear what we want to do for Him to serve others! As God told Solomon, “I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings” (1 Kings 3:12-13).

Ask God and Receive! Find your passion!

Blessings,

Pastor Paul