The first of the possibilities is passion. The dictionary defines passion as a strong and barely controllable emotion. It’s a fire that burns in your heart. It may not be expressed as exuberantly as it once was but it still simmers. Passion arouses people, not only you, but those who are around you.

Bonnie and I were in a restaurant in Charlotte in the autumn. We had been holding hands across the table, talking intently and laughing. Our waitress asked us after a time if we were newly weds. She was shocked when we told her we had been married 36 years. She told the other waitresses what we had said. You could see the look of amazement on their faces. Passion doesn’t have to wax cold if it is nurtured and encouraged.

When we were newly weds, we used to wonder what our marriage would be like in our fifties as it was so much fun and full of passion in our twenties. Our passion hasn’t waned but gotten stronger. I adore my wife even more after 36 years for now I know her.

A spiritual reality is that people reflect what is in our heart, not what comes out of our head. The book of Corinthians says that the wife is the glory of the husband. Glory is the goodness of a person reflected through someone else. The goodness of a husband to his wife is reflected in her continence. When we look at a wife, we can see how happy and how godly her husband is. She will reflect back what is coming out of our heart. What does your spouse reflect to you? What do your children reflect to you? A man’s spiritual condition may be masked by his words and outward appearance but his wife reveals the truth. If you are in tune with this, they don’t have to say anything for you to perceive it.

Some pastors have told me they don’t like their church very much. That is unfortunate at any time but particularly so if they have led for more than two years. After a couple of years the church starts to reflect the leader. My wife and I had a difficult time with the first church we led. Upon leaving the church under advisement of a mature leader in the greater church I started a new church. We had 18 quality, spiritually healthy adults join us in our new adventure. I should never have done it but I did. At the end of a year my wife and I were mystified by the pain and hurt our congregants exhibited. It finally dawned on us that despite what appeared to be a great year of pursuing God they simply reflected our spiritual condition back to us. We know in hindsight that we should never have started a church. We needed ministry to some deep pain inflicted during our tenure as pastors.

We had lost our passion and it’s all about passion.

What thrills you? Is it preaching, evangelism, signs and wonders? Could it be leading? Creating a new business? Closing a sales deal? What was it that you couldn’t wait to do? Couldn’t wait for the opportunity to open up to you?

For me it was preaching and teaching the word of God. I wanted to do it before I became a Christian. In the process of discovering what Christ has done for me I had such a burning desire to go to bible school. Bonnie would tell me I was crazy because I wasn’t even a Christian yet. I did go to a bible school and then I couldn’t wait to pastor a church so I could get an opportunity to preach. It took five years but the Lord opened the door for me to walk through. I was so happy. I used to spend hours pacing my prayer room calling out to the Lord. He would impart what I thought was divine inspiration for messages into my mind. I loved it.

There were a few minor problems I hadn’t anticipated. One was a lifelong feeling of rejection that could overwhelm me. I had learned to push through it as a teenager and had become very outgoing. As a minister it returned with a vengeance. After a time I didn’t want to go to church, let alone preach, and I was the pastor. I did get set free but the oppression took its toll on my passion to preach.

The second problem I naively walked straight into was criticism. There is no one who everybody likes. We can’t please all the people all of the time. I had a lovely, older saint in our congregation who felt it was her duty to tell me how poorly I preached. She offered to pay my way to Bible College to improve my skill and revelation. When I asked a friend who had been in ministry a long time about the criticism, he said to me that some people like baloney sandwiches and some like ham sandwiches. He said that I couldn’t help which one I was but that even though some didn’t like me others did. I finally accepted my nemesis’ offer to pay for college. Amazingly, she stopped harping about my preaching and rescinded her offer.

The third problem was church growth. Despite my apparent lack of ability to preach the church grew phenomenally over the first two years. People and their needs consumed my time. I had no idea that I could set some boundaries that would help me sustain energy for the long haul. I ministered, ministered, and ministered. It was wonderful to see friends set free. But my time in the prayer room was gone, so was the revelation. I found myself sitting up late on Saturday nights and early Sunday mornings. I had to preach. I had to have a word. It became such an obligation without joy. That which had been my passion became my toil.

Years later at Billy Graham School of Evangelism one of the speakers said people often asked him if he had to preach on Sunday. In a southern drawl he said I don’t have to, I get to. It was an epiphany moment for me. Revelation is often like that. Bam, it hits you. So simple, yet so profound! I don’t have to - I get too!

In the movie, Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell’s sister chastises him for putting his running first before the Lord. She is concerned that he is backsliding or neglecting his relationship with God. He tells her that when he runs he feels God’s pleasure. Where do you feel His pleasure?

Alex Ness, one of my bible school professors, told us that sometimes as the pastor of the church he would get bogged down with administration. He felt like it was squeezing the life out of him. He would drop everything he was doing, grab his hat and coat, and go door to door in the neighbourhood around the church building until he found someone he could lead to the Lord. He would return refreshed and able to apply himself to the tedious tasks once again. Alex Ness felt His Lord’s pleasure when he led people to Him.

When do you feel His pleasure? What is keeping you from the thing that makes you tick? If you can answer these two questions, you have the pathway back to restoring passion. Take a moment to reflect and write it down. It maybe so buried you will have trouble remembering. Sit, wait, and ask Him to bring it back to you. Now rectify whatever is hindering you from stoking your passion.