Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Chicken Soup for the Soul cocreators Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen with Chris Karcher
ABC's Dr. Timothy Johnson,
Finding God in the Questions, and Chris
.
Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator, and Chris Karcher
Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Surrender to the divine plan
After our raft flipped, I thrashed about underneath it. I pushed upward for air, but crashed into the raft. The whitewater spun me back down. I wrestled toward the surface. Again, the raft was a barricade between the sky and me. I wished I had filled my lungs with air before landing in the water. I tussled. The water churned.
Finally, I popped out from underneath the raft. Oxygen! I could breathe.
Finding your passion is like breathing. You want to do it. You have to do it.
People have commented about how disciplined I must be to write a book. True, writing requires discipline, but love motivates me more than discipline. This book was inside of me. It has been a joy letting it out. Why wouldn’t I want to do something I love?
Risk is one reason we can be reticent. Discovering passion requires us to risk leaving the security of our comfort zone. If I had not chosen to leave a lucrative twenty-year career in computer software engineering, my dream would be burning within me.
My fellow rafters and I landed underneath the raft because we did not want to leave the security of it. But what we viewed as our security was not so safe after all. We would have been better off letting go of the raft so we did not end up trapped underwater. Instead, the thing we clung to was our nemesis.
The only real security is in God.
Finding purpose is about surrendering, not searching, and using the gifts given to you. Living God’s plan is how a daffodil bulb grows into a daffodil and not a tulip. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”[i]
I mentioned the flailing arms and legs of the other people underneath the raft reassured me because it meant I was not alone. If people trapped under a raft, struggling for air, calmed me, imagine my comfort level if I would only remember the Supreme Comforter is always with me.
The old Proverb teaches us to, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”[ii] This is the how-to of finding your passion.
Develop a relationship with God, surrender, and trust. Through a relationship with God, the Holy Spirit will guide you to your passion and help you understand God’s plan for your life. By surrendering, you allow God to “direct your paths.” By trusting, you receive the courage to leave the security of your comfort zone and live in accordance with God’s plan for your life.
God will give you the grace you need to live in accordance with His plans for you. And you will be richly rewarded as you live passionately with a sense of meaning and purpose.
You may reprint this article provided it includes the following paragraph, including contact information:
Copyright © 2003 by Christine N. Karcher. Chris Karcher is the author of Relationships of Grace, Amazing Things I Know About You, and Relationships of Grace Workbook. To order books and tapes, schedule Chris for speaking engagements, or subscribe to Chris’ newsletter, visit www.relationshipsofgrace.com, email order@relationshipsofgrace.com, or call 1-877-GET-GRACE (1-877-438-4722).