Any athletic ability my kids have doesn’t come from me. My husband, on the other hand, was a natural competitor who grew up playing sports. Basketball was his favorite. While all three of our older kids play the game, 15-year-old Gabriel, particularly takes after his dad in this area. For him, basketball is more than just a sport — it’s a lifetime passion.
As I’ve watched him work hard to become a better player, I’ve learned more about pursuing my own lifetime passions. Maybe you have a hidden aspiration too, some distant goal you dream of achieving. Can’t remember? Think back to what you really loved as a child, what you dreamed of becoming.
Scripture says that God created us with a purpose. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do,” the apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10. Before we were even created, God had a unique purpose in mind for each of us.
To accomplish his plan, he gave you specific gifts, desires, and abilities. But nowhere in the Bible does it say that success will be easy. Natural ability only goes so far. Take Gabriel and basketball for example. Without instruction, hard work, commitment, and sacrifice, all of his basketball genes won’t do much good.
Knowing this, for Christmas my husband and I gave Gabriel a training session with Mike Dutton, a former college basketball coach in our area who helps kids develop their game. After working with our son, Coach Dutton invited him to a weekly drill session with other competitive players. “To get better, he’s got to go up against bigger and better kids,” he said.
In my own life, I often get frustrated when the reward for my work doesn’t come as quickly or easily as I’d like. God gave me a gift of writing. So why isn’t publishing a book easier? The more obstacles I come up against, however, the harder I work and the better my writing becomes — just like Gabriel and basketball.
We can’t necessarily all play or work or create at the top of our field. Just because I have a passion to write doesn’t mean I’ll make millions or bang out a New York Time’s best seller. But as I seek God—and ask how he wants to use my gifts—he promises to guide me, just like he’ll guide you.
So if your long- held dream seems elusive. Keep working. Look for everyday opportunities to grow and share your passion. Ask God how he wants to use it. Like I tell my son, developing the gifts God has given you is your job; his is whatever happens next.
MEADOW RUE MERRILL is a Mid-coast Maine writer who shares about God in her everyday life through “Faith Notes.” For more, go to www.meadowrue.com where you can follow her on Twitter or Facebook.
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