Passion

Passion- a strong and barely controllable emotion

Passion can be a very dangerous thing. If pointed in the wrong direction it can and will be a very destructive force.

2 Samuel 11 tells the story of someone with uncontrolled passion and desire. David saw a beautiful woman and his passion drove him to bring her into his palace and sleep with her. But she was married to one of David’s closest friends. Uriah had stood by David in the wilderness while Saul hunted him. He was one of David closest people. Even with all of this, when Bathsheba became pregnant David had Uriah killed! David’s passion drove him to do things he didn’t think he was capable of.

2 Samuel 12:1–13 NLT

So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.” David was furious. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own. “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.” Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.

Our passion are our biggest strength and our greatest weakness. We follow them to some pretty dark places sometimes. We can allow our passions to shape us, but they are not in control. We are. Our passions are placed inside us by God for His purposes. When we submit to God and allow our passions to be used the way God intended, we can set the world on fire!

There is another side to David’s passion I believe we need to explore. What happens when David surrenders his passion back to God?

2 Samuel 12:14–25 NLT

Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the word of the Lord by doing this, your child will die.” After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah’s wife. David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused. Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?” When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.” Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate. His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.” David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.” Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded.

David’s passion drew the eyes and heart of God. He pursued God in the midst of his pain. God blessed him with another son with the same woman. His name was Solomon.

All through Scripture God is drawn to passion. As misguided as it may be. Noah was passionate about saving him and his family, Abraham was passionate about fulfilling God’s promise, Isaac was passionate about digging wells, Jacob was passionate about getting ahead and staying alive, Jospeh was passionate about God’s promise to him, David was passionate about conquering, Peter was passionate about protecting his neck and rep, Paul was originally passionate about destroying the church and John was just passionate about everything. God seems to want to use passionate people. Not skilled or gifted or talented or attractive. But those who are willing to go after something and do whatever it takes to get it.

God, it seems, would rather steer passion than motivate talent.