Passion or purpose?

Passion or purpose? 

It's hard to navigate this life as an adult - 'adulting' is hard! And I feel like the universe tricked me into becoming one. But nevertheless - I must soldier on. 

I have been learning a lot lately and I have really been trying to understand my life's journey. I have conversations with friends and with God often about what my purpose is. I scroll through social media and I am bombarded by the many podcasts, clips, conferences and posts about living your purpose and by extension- 'your best life' and many times it leaves me feeling a bit- well- inadequate.

It seems as if everyone is living that 'purpose driven life' except me! 

"Find what you are passionate about" they say.

"Do what you are passionate about and you will never have to work a day in your life!" 

"Find your purpose" and the universe will unfold itself to you.

These statements have become very popular in our culture lately so I wanted to take a little peep into the passion / purpose mentality.

I like that word 'passion' It seems intense, exciting and energizing. There are a few things I am passionate about, my job, my children, creating learning tools for my classroom are just a few. I will spend hours on end creating tools for my classroom and have been known to burn dinner because I was so wrapped up with making something I totally forgot I was cooking. If I am to follow the 'passion' guide, creating learning tools could be something that I could happily do for the rest of my life! This kind of passion can also be monetized and that could lead to me living my best life too. Passion, this tangible that can get you on your life's path does have a flip side though.

I'm passionate about writing, yet, I haven't written a single word on here since January! I think about writing all the time, and am subscribed to so many newsletters from writers,I have read so many blog posts but still that passion hasn't translated into anything remotely meaningful. Maybe my passion has waned and it just needs a new course or an amazing motivational speaker to get things kick started again? What do you think?

The truth is - Passion lies. 

Passion is controlled by emotions. Emotions? well they are a fickle thing. 

Passion is a feeling, an emotion, a strong will to do something that drives you. As long as emotions are at the heart of a thing, we must step back and examine that very thing. Emotions are wrapped up in self.

For an art course, I interviewed a well known Jamaican painter, I asked him - 'how do you get the drive to paint so many things?' His response - 'I wake up and I don't want to always finish what I start but then I remember that I have a family to feed, and so I do what I must.' Passion? His passion to provide for his family was greater than the passion that started his creative works. Both, however feelings of duty. Duty to self, duty to family.

So if passion is a liar -what of purpose?

As for finding purpose? I didn't even know it was lost. Let's be honest - at some point in one's life they will question their true purpose on the planet. What am I here for? Why was I created? What meaningful thing should I be doing to impact the world?

How does one seek out that which is seemingly lost? Send a search party? Call in the coast guard? Ask family and friends? Search within? Go on a retreat? Do meditation and yoga? I don't know either - I never professed to know anything. But I do know someone who does.

All the years I thought God forgot to make Eve, I always felt like she was an after thought until I recognized that God had that intention all along. He just wanted Adam to equally recognize that he needed someone too.  It was not until Adam was actively doing something that he recognized that he was indeed one of a kind and that is when God created his Eve.

It's interesting to note that in Genesis 2 vs 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof   that the Lord brought the animals to Adam, he was helping Adam fulfill his purpose. Adam could have easily walked the garden and do his animal inventory and namely by himself; but God was very intentional in the way this purpose was achieved - together.  Adam didn't have to go searching for his purpose and neither do you.

That same God that helped Adam, is the same God we serve today.We don't need  a 'discovery call' or to do a course on Udemy. Our purpose has already been given to us. We need to be in union with our maker and the best thing is - he will help us to do the work - not do it for us though!

We have to do the work - Listen, scientist say there are 1.2 million known species of animals on the planet - known! Adam had a lot of work to do and when we read the bible, we tend not to place it in its proper time context - this whole animal naming purpose of Adam probably took years. And he had to be original too, with zero duplication - just wow!

Purpose takes the same amount of work that passion does - the difference is purpose is God given and passion is self driven.

So that seemingly elusive purpose that so many seek, how does it reveal itself to us? Live in the presence of God. Walk and talk with him in the cool of the day and follow his command to be fruitful, replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth (Genesis 1 vs. 28).

Can I be frank, knowing ones purpose doesn't mean that we will live it out, just like being passionate about something means that we are going to do it. Living  a God given purpose requires trust, love, faith and total obedience. Purpose carries responsibilities that one might not be prepared for and that is one reason we don't go searching for it, we are made to discover it when we are uniquely ready to take it on. The Lord must prepare us as he did Adam, helping and guiding on the way. 

 How can we be sure we are in purpose or passion? The truth is we can be passionate about something and that is not what the Lord would have us do to reach the lost.  We can be passionate about medical advocacy or feeding the homeless or teaching, all good things, yet, it might not be your God given purpose. It might just be something you became deeply enthralled in because of a life experience or a goal you had as a child. That thing you are passionate about is not necessarily that gift that will make room for you. 

Passion can mimick purpose so closely that it might be hard to decipher between the two.

Passion wants to help people too

Passion makes you do the work as well

Passion drives you daily
Passion needs sacrifice

Passion feels optimistic all the time

Passion can bring fruitfulness and growth in many areas

Passion can take you many places - infront of kings even

Passion can seem innate 

Passion has imposter syndrome too

How do you know for sure you are walking in God's purpose for your life? I don't think that you can ever be 100% sure but I do know that if you are in communion with him, it will become clearer when you actually begin.

That purpose thing - it requires real sacrifice. I don't want to do it sacrifice

That purpose thing - it requires time and communion with God.

That purpose thing - it requires faith

That purpose thing - at the heart of it is love

That purpose thing - it requires a trust, not in self or your innate abilities but a trust so big, it's scary

That purpose thing - it requires work

That purpose thing - it requires a vision so much bigger than yourself

That purpose thing - it requires fasting, prayer and action

That purpose thing - it requires you to do a thing without knowing what the next thing to do is

That purpose thing - it is hard and it is scary.

Not every one is passionate about a thing but every one was created with purpose. Everyone. Stop searching for your purpose. Simply ask God to reveal it to you and then move at it purposefully.

I write not out of passion, I think I did at first, but now I must write out of purpose.

Share how you will commune with God to reveal his purpose for your life

Jeremiah 29:11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.


you may also like: this post on fear
or this one on faith

The problem with #muteR.Kelly

The problem with muting R. Kelly

The problem with muting R. Kelly from a christian perspective is that well - we would, on that flip side, be advocating to mute ourselves.

Breath in, chest up - slow release.

It's a hard pill to swallow eeh. I agree. I am you. I stand with all women shoulder to shoulder who have been abused. The pain is realest in the darkest rooms. It's haunting when you try to forget and loudest when you keep silent.

Abuse hurts the ones who asked for nothing in return.

If you were old enough to party in the 90's and 2000's you would definitely love you some R.Kelly.

His music got you moving and talking and some other things too but there was always that thing - that thing we all heard about him marrying Aaliyah when she was 15. I never knew if it was true or not and he said he thought she was older. Then there was that whole video trial debacle. He walked and made more music.

But the thing about muting R.Kelly is we would all need to mute ourselves.

I sat in bible study once and the pastor was discussing /sin/. And every Christian knows that the  wages of sin is death’. All sin equals death. I agreed. But then the question was posed - are there some sins that are greater than others?

I wasted no time to answer that question - my answer- YES.

My pastor's answer - NO

Me: dilemma.

Of course some sin are greater than others. Of course the worst sinners must be murderers, child molesters, abusers and the like.Those sins are particularly despicable. But oh, despicable me!

The truth of the matter is child molester and me liar have done the same thing.

Abuser and me gossiper have done the same thing.

Pedophile and me fornicator have done the same thing.

We have both sinned and fallen short of God's glory.

To mute one is to mute all.

The truth is our secret sins and unknown lies are now hidden or worse accepted as human flaws.

What if we all stood in truth, having all our secret vices and sins exposed? Who would be left to cast the first stone?

NONE.

Let he who hath no sin cast the first stone.

My hands would fall at my hips - empty.

The world, that made up many of its laws from the commandments is actually where a lot of our skewed views of a hierarchy of sin comes from, it is certainly true for mine.

To be fair- the bible has its fair share of severe punishment for sins, even unto death - cue - Sodom and Gomorrah and Noah and the Ark, where some sins seemed downright- unforgivable - But God.

Murders gets life in prison or the electric chair.

Liars...well they get blocked and deleted from friends lists.

Child molesters get 10+ years in prison.

 Gossipers...they get many ears to whisper in.

Oh But God. - The gift of God - eternal life.

He came to set us free from all the sin and shame. He nailed it all to the cross when He died for you and for me. He doles out His grace and offers freedom from the sin that holds us captive.

Am I advocating for anyone who commits sins that also happen to be a crime to be given God's grace? YES

Am I advocating for anyone who commits a sin that happens to be a crime to not pay or suffer the consequences of his/her actions? NO!

Should we #mute the whole world?

Cause you do know that's what we would have to do right?

A whole world full of sinful people. All our sins are equal at the foot of the cross.

My biggest hope for humanity is that men and women would know who they are in Christ. That men  would not have to seek their manhood through control and power over women. That women could be seen as how God sees them and not as objects of sexual lusts and desires. That women can see themselves as valuable, not because of their outward appearance but because they were created in the very image of the master creator of the entire universe.

 That hurt people would help instead of hurt and that the whole world would not become blinded by its collective pain.

Mute R. Kelly? That's totally up to you - I have long since lost my appetite for that kind of music - but appetite is such a fickle fickle thing - just ask Eve.

What is it that you are battling with and need to be free of today? Lean in to the grace that Jesus provides.

Related post on Grace - what to do when you don't feel committed to that thing you need to be committed to


Tanya❤️

Do it afraid or Fear not?

It's a new year filed with new year's resolutions, vision boards 2019, scripture writing plans, scripture for the year and word for the year 2019 - the people of the world are ready to take on 2019!

If I am to be honest, so am I. I have a word for the year too, I have the vision for 2019 but in the midst of it all, my heart encountered this very popular phrase - "Do it afraid."

I have seen it all over social media people living their 'best life' posing atop a mountainside, going skydiving, starting new businesses with the hastag #doitafraid. There is usually an explanation of how they conquered their fear by ..well..just doing it- afraid.

Let me be honest here - I looked at it and I agreed - A jubilant 'yes' resounded from me. I am going to face my fears and do it afraid too.I was proud of all these persons for conquering their fears but silently contemplated if I ever would.

A new year can bring such confidence

Fear not?

But then this thing happened. My spirit said - 'Do it afraid or fear not?'
I was confused.

The question began to haunt me and I decided that I would allow my mind to mull it over a bit. Could this be a post for my reluctant series of the world vs. the word?

I went investigating what the bible had to say about fear, overwhelmingly it said, "fear not!" Then I happened to look if I saw any articles or posts about 'doing it afraid' - I saw plenty - plenty renowned christian authors posts about 'doing it afraid'. I curled in....ooops.


See - I was in opposition to the thinking of 'doing it afraid' and I was just a girl who mulled over something in her head. I was just a girl who began to think that saying 'doing it afraid' and 'fear not' were not one and the same. I began to feel like this thing laid on my heart was no longer valid. I began to fear that my thoughts would be totally discredited because I didn't agree with the popular sentiments of 'doing it afraid.'

'Doing it afraid'

The thing is that the disparity between doing it afraid and fear not seems so small and the outcomes are often the same. I am afraid to do something -I face my fears- I do it anyways- I achieve my goal. Even if I don't achieve what I originally set out to do - I have still gained because I will know what to do next time to improve my odds. Or at best I conquered my fear and now am better for it. There is no loser there right?

But for me - the tiniest, sliest word in 'doing it afraid' is 'I'. I did it afraid. I felt overwhelmingly, crippling fear and I did something to overcome that fear and came out victorious on the other side. It's hard to see - Like the serpent said to Eve - "You will not surely die"( Genesis 3 vs. 4) and she nor Adam certainly did not drop dead physically, but spiritually they died because of a subtle play on words.

Doing it afraid is acting in my own self and my own strengths to get past something that I fear. Let me use a  practical example - say a person is afraid to fly but they want to experience an awesome vacation in Italy - they might try to do it afraid by :- travelling with a friend, taking a favourite book, listen to tapes about being positive or just simply do it afraid by going on the plane and being a nervous wreck and an annoying passenger. But best believe they will make it to Italy. They did it afraid. Actually, let's be fair, they could have even prayed about it and made it too.

But let's not be fooled the Word of God doesn't call us to do anything afraid, or feel the fear and do it anyways. The word of God calls us to be fearless.

Doing it afraid and being fearless is not the same thing.

Doing it afraid is acting from a point of self. 

Fear not calls for one to be fearless in all situations because God is with you in every situation.


The bible has many accounts where it speaks of not being afraid - not because God thinks that as humans we will be brave in all situations ; he expects that we will be afraid or he wouldn't have said - Fear not. What He doesn't call for us to do is 'do it afraid.' He expects us to check that fear right at the door by calling on Him, that in our weakness of fear, we will gain bravery and strength to face the things that cause us to be afraid in the first place.

Moving towards something afraid is not trusting in God's ability to remove all doubt and fear from our hearts and minds so that we can act in the spirit of power  and a sound mind.

It is entirely different to say - I am going on this awesome vacation in Italy because I know that the God I serve will protect me and remove all fear from my heart and mind rooted in whatever construct I might be operating in. Whether it is fear of terrorism, fear that the world is unsafe, or maybe someone I knew died in a plane crash or just general distrust of mechanics of a plane.

Perfect love casts out ALL fear.

If perfect love casts out fear how is it then that I am going to subscribe to doing something afraid? Isn't it reasonable to assume that even while I am doing the action I am still afraid? So what then was cast out? ( because fear has torment- 1 John 4 vs. 18) Is it to say that a fear can't be instantly cast out by God if I seek Him fervently to do so? Is anything too hard for God or are we ascribing our thinking to how God can operate?

Because he first loved us - perfectly- He doesn't ever want us to be tormented by any type of fear.
Fear of loving others, self; fear of flying, fear of dying, fear of spiders, clowns, towns or cities - no fear at all.


In the story of David and Goliath found in 1st Samuel, the army of Saul were greatly afraid of Goliath and his army. David, a shepherd boy came on the battlefield and was ready to fight, unafraid - his words - "the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine"(1 Samuel vs 35).  Verses 45 and 46 are also instructive and proves that David wasn't operating out of fear or doing anything afraid - he had a certain confidence as he said "This day the Lord will deliver thee into mine hand;..."

The Bible accounts also of Moses who was asked in Genesis 12 by the Lord to 'get thee out of thy country, and from they kindred, and from they father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee." Genesis 12 vs. 1. The story accounts that he left not knowing even where he was going actually and proponents of the 'do it afraid' thinking says when Abram left, he must have left being afraid but trusted in the Lord so much so that he left but the bible doesn't give an account of his fear - it only speaks to his certain trust and belief in his God. Where I believe that he 'did it afraid' is when he did not trust God enough to protect him when he went into Egypt and told his wife Sarai to lie and say she was his sister to save himself from being killed by the Egyptians - that he did afraid because he didn't ask God to remove the ungodly sense of fear and save him alive.- but I could be wrong.

The story of Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego also shows that trust in God casts out all fear and causes one to act in strength and bravery. The Hebrew boys were not afraid of the firey furnace - their resolve was Our God will save us and if not we will still not bow to your gods. ( Daniel 3 vs. 17- 18).
They did not do it afraid - they feared not- they were resolute.


Doing it afraid is man's way - Fear not is God's way.


I am not afraid to do it because God is with me and he will carry me through is different from saying I will approach whatever I fear afraid.

It is so subtle, so very subtle but most of the lies of the enemy are.

Consider the following:

• Jesus did not do it afraid did He? Was He afraid to heal on the sabbath day but did it afraid anyways?
• Was he afraid to speak to scholars at the age of 12 but did it anyway?
• Was Jesus afraid to be challenged by religious Scholars but answered them afraid anyways?
• Was he afraid when tempted by the same devil that tempts us? Did he rebuke Him afraid?
• Was He afraid when they took him captive to crucify Him but did it afraid anyways?
• Was Jesus afraid to die on the cross but did that afraid?

Feel the fear and do it anyways? - was that Jesus' example?

Feel the fear - and do this

Psalm 34 vs. 4  I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

You might also like to read the first in the series - When hoarding becomes a thing

What fears are you facing today? Will you do it afraid or do it fearless as God intends? Let me know.

Tanya❤️