Category Archives: Submitting to God

Passion Gone Wrong

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My grandson Micah Nathan is obsessed with wheels. I remember our 4 boys feeling the same way, flattening themselves to the floor to get a road’s eye view of tiny toy wheels. Maybe it’s in boy-DNA.

Micah has strong opinions about each miniature vehicle at my house, even at only 22 months. His favorite is a tiny bike-like motorcycle, followed by a plastic dump truck. He assigns different cars to different people. “This is Mommy’s car. This is Daddy’s.”

But yesterday we saw that even a toddler can take things too far. Linni and I were chatting when Micah approached with a tiny wheel in his pudgy hand, which must have come off one of the small cars. With his limited language he tried to share his thoughts, but before we could figure them out, he popped the wheel into his mouth, gave a few chews, and swallowed it.

Wheels are Micah’s passion.

All of us are passionate about something and are usually willing to sacrifice something else to pursue it. For example, I’d rather write than sleep or eat. Someone else might be passionate about music or cooking or reading or any other worthwhile pursuit. It’s all based on what bents and abilities we have and on the way God wires us.

But in thinking about our passions, we might ask ourselves several questions:

  • How far am I willing to go for the sake of my passion?
  • Is every passion worth pursuing?
  • What if my passion isn’t positive?

Scripture makes reference to passions gone wrong, describing them as the “passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature.” God wasn’t the one who wired those into us; we have to take the blame ourselves.

So what are the passions of a sinful nature? Name any sin, and that’s what it is. Whatever sins we can’t route out of our lives are passions gone wrong. God instructs us to “nail them to his cross.” In other words, we’re to exercise control through Christ’s power as our Savior. He offers that, but it’s up to us to take advantage.

We might say, “But there’s nothing wrong with my passion for [fill-in-the-blank].” God says unless all of our passions are pulled out from under our control and put under his, they’re on the wrong side of the passion-ledger. Since he knows we’re all pretty good at taking things to extremes, even good things, he promises to help us with passion-control by providing his grace and strength as needed to get the job done. When we ask, he gives it.

Meanwhile, Linnea and I are having trouble finding Micah’s favorite motorcycle. Maybe we should start watching his diapers.

”Because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” (2 Peter 1:4)

A Sandy Story

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Recently our beach had been made smooth by wild winds, then had been doused with rain, making it much like a chalkboard ready for writing on. By the time Jack and I arrived, a menagerie had already been there and written their stories on the sand. We “read” that most of the neighborhood critters began their mornings with creek cocktails.

Jack sniffed enthusiastically as we identified the prints of seagulls, raccoons, rabbits, deer, fox, and coyotes at the water’s edge. Even tiny insects had left winding trails in the sand. I wished I’d been camouflaged in the dunes at dawn, able to watch these critters quench their thirst. How did they all get along? But then we saw the true story by way of the deer prints. Walking toward the water, hoof marks were spaced evenly, about 18” apart, but as the prints left the creek, they were 5’ apart! Apparently thirst was quenched in successive drinking shifts, and the animals knew enough not to drink together.

Nearby there was a sandy story different from all the others: the boots of a man. His steps were made by larger feet than any of the animals, detailing a story of dominance and power.

Scripture says human beings were created to be different than animals, not just in footprints,  capabilities and intellect, but in likeness. While animals were all likened to their own species, humans were likened to God. Such incredible elevation made us unique and privileged, part of which was to receive eternal souls.

The Creator gave animals natural instincts to help them. Squirrels know to store up food in the fall, and birds know to migrate south before it snows. Bears know to hibernate until spring, and deer know to run from coyotes.

But when God created people, he decided on reasoning power instead of instinct. Thus we can weigh alternatives and consider consequences. Best of all we can make our own choices. Our decision-making sometimes gets us into trouble, but we still value it highly.

As God watches us making our choices, he always hopes we’ll do it with wisdom, which inevitably leads to him. But sometimes what he sees is animals choosing more wisely than humans, and I’m sure that disappoints him. Critters know enough to run from danger, but people often run right into it.

If Jesus had been walking on our beach this week, my guess is his steps would have made smooth sandal prints. Scripture urges us to follow behind those steps, not necessarily on the sand but as described in his Word. This can be difficult, since we don’t usually know where he’s leading us. But one thing is sure. If we follow his lead, we’ll be much better off than if we tell a sandy story of our own making.

“The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?” (Proverbs 20:24)

Rules of the Road

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While running errands today I saw an interesting phenomenon: an 18-wheeler with big letters on the back that said, “Caution! Student driver!”

Was it a joke?

The giant truck was sitting at a red light poised to turn left. Watching from a distance, I realized it was no joke. When the light turned green, the truck inched its way around the corner, making a wide turn but not quite wide enough, his right wheels edging off the road. With his painfully slow movement, he saved his turn and continued forward, slowly crawling down the highway.

Later I Googled the name on the truck: Professional Drivers Institute. Sure enough, the semi I saw was part of a fleet of 18-wheelers used to teach drivers to maneuver the big-rigs. After 3 weeks of training a driver could become licensed and was ready for the real road.

The site says, “Each student is allowed their own semi-truck to drive on the range,” an on-site pavement much like the school parking lots where we learned to drive cars. It can’t be easy maneuvering a 53’ long behemoth around a set of tiny orange cones.

I never thought about truckers needing training. Weren’t they super-drivers who knew instinctively what to do when they first climbed high into the driver’s seat? Of course that would be goofier than handing car keys to a 15 year who’d never heard of “Rules of the Road.”

Most of life’s undertakings need a training period, from toilet training to trucking, and the most difficult training doesn’t involve toilets, trucks or anything else tangible.

How do children train for playground bullying? What prepares teens for high school peer pressure? Or newlyweds for marriage adjustments? Or new parents for ‘round the clock duty? Or the elderly for steady losses?

And how do we train for the ending of life?

I think of the Bible as my “Rules of the Road” book. Although God had many reasons for putting his instructions in writing, one of them was to train us for life. Scripture leaves no subject untouched. It’s as practical as any other how-to book and details not only what we should do but what we shouldn’t, complete with consequences. Of course taking advantage of biblical advice means we must regularly open the training manual. It doesn’t work to ask God what to do and then shun his answer-book.

Life-training isn’t easy. The Professional Drivers Institute requires only 50 hours behind the wheel before graduation, but God’s training program lasts a lifetime. The two curriculums do have one thing in common, though. PDI’s web site concludes by saying, “We’ll be there for you down the road, if the need should arise.”

 

And God says the same thing.

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8)