When Passion Becomes Work
Yesterday, I turned 28. I feel no differently (probably because I’ve been mistakenly telling people I was 28 for the past year anyway), but I do have a renewed passion for my purpose. And here’s why.
2012 was such an amazing year: I quit a career, picked up another one, summered in Paris, moved to Manhattan, and went back to school for a third degree, pursuing creative writing full-time. This year, I became a contributing editor for an online publication that I have the utmost respect for. And now, I am 75 GOOD pages into my first novel. I’m a writer. A writer, dangit! But now the walls of responsibility are closing in on me.
Now I write to eat. Now I write so I won’t be homeless upon graduation in May 2014. Now writing is a chore. I dread it. As many of you have noticed, I’ve neglected my blog. It’s no longer fun. It’s no longer an escape. It’s work. And for someone who hates work, that is the death knell of a dream.
Or, more accurately, a fantasy. How silly.
Picture this: You’re a single person who longs for a relationship with the right person. God sends you your right person and you marry and then after your honeymoon period, you begin to complain about his dirty socks or her make-up-less face. It’s not as easy or romantic or as fun as you imagined being with your person forever would be. Then you start to wonder: Did God make a mistake? Did you? Well, no. You have to work and you have to work every day, no days off, from now until forever, because this is your person God gave to you. You have to fight for your person, sacrifice for your person, be willing to give your very life for your person. Because that’s what God has called you to do.
Writing is my person. It’s my thing. This is what I begged God for and this is what God gave to me and said “minister to My people through it.” It’s been confirmed. Over and over and over again, it has been confirmed. And it’s hard to write well consistently. It’s work. It can’t wait for the last possible minute. It just has to be done. This is my assignment. And what I love more than anything else in the entire world is the feeling I get when I am walking 100% in my God-given purpose, bringing glory to His name. There is nothing else.
So for someone like me to whom things have come very easily, it’s more than time to put in work. If that means less than my usual 10 hours of sleep, if that means loss of prestige or validation or support or praise or commendation, so be it. I know my task. And woe on the person who puts her “hands to the plow and looks back. She is not fit for service in the Kingdom of God.”
The number 28 in the Bible is broken down by God’s perfect numbers: 7 (order, completion) x 4(Father, Son, Holy Spirit in one). Twenty-eight represents life and eternal life (from a woman’s menstrual cycle being 28 days). As a sold-out believer in and proclaimer of Jesus Christ, I am confident that my eternal life is taken care of. As for this life on Earth, I am encouraged that this year will be one of life more abundantly in Christ, as I work to reignite my passion for my purpose so that at the end of this life, I can hear God say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, so I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of the Lord.”
What’s holding you back from pursuing your purpose?
Thanks to Awesomely Luvvie for suggesting the #31WriteNow Challenge to write every day for the next 31 days!