Song writer, Rachael Platten sings a song that most of you have probably heard; Fight Song. It isn’t my favorite song, but one of her lyrics stuck with me. In the song she states that “I might only have one match, but I can make an explosion”. This spoke to me about having confidence in what you are passionate about and not to doubt yourself. You may think that you are just a “small match”, but what you forget is that with that one small match you can make a huge impact; an EXPLOSION.
Coaching has been something that I have always wanted to do, but I have never pursued it fully because I didn’t think I would be successful at it. I didn’t think I had anything that people didn’t already know; so what extra help would I be. I saw myself as that “small match” so I haven’t been purposeful or intentional about pursuing it other than waiting for God to direct something into my life.
My Pastor has been preaching about something similar. He preached how the Bible describes how we should pursue purposeful joy in Philippians 4. To obtain this we have to be intentional about; (1) wanting to KNOW Christ, (2) wanting to PURSUE Christ and (3) wanting to HONOR Christ. I believe that a life of true joy can only come to those who purposefully put their whole life in Christ’s hands. Once you do, the Bible says that you don’t have to be anxious about anything. All you have to do is believe in Christ and He will give you “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding and will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.”
I believe that this is similar to those passions that we have in our lives. Purposefully pursuing your passion is:
Wanting to KNOW about that passion,
Wanting to PURSUE that passion, and
Wanting to HONOR that passion by being fully devoted to it.
It is about being intentional with every moment of the day. It is setting our minds on the goal and having hope that the results will come as long as we keep our eyes on the finish line.
““Every man dies, not every man really lives.” - William Wallace (Brave Heart)”
As I continue to write and now as I have begun to coach leaders, I have continued to pursue coaching more purposefully and have found that my passion continues to get more ignited thus leading to a bigger fire within me. As I watched the movie Brave Heart for the 100th time (it’s one of my favorites and I included a bit of it at the bottom of this blog to allow you to “feel” the scene), I am always inspired by William Wallace’s words to the Queen of England when she wants him to show allegiance to the King so that he won’t kill him. She says that if he doesn’t, he will surely die. His response is amazingly courageous; “Every man dies, not every man really lives.”
My challenge to you is to take time to reflect on what you are doing with your life; are you really living it? Ask the question, “Am I being purposefully passionate about what I am doing?”. If the answer is no, then you need to ask, “Why?”. I believe that if you want to make an impact in this world for your family, for Christ or for your work then you need to be doing something that you are passionate about. Pray about it. Reflect on it. Make a decision to be more intentional about making a change if you need to. You CAN make it happen and you CAN make an impact in this world. It’s about time to go make it happen.
