Passionate 

A promise was made in the garden of Eden when two lost souls were overcome with guilt and shame. Adam and Eve would be punished, but in the middle of the punishment, a promise, a hint that even then in the mess, God was aware of how he would show up to make it all RIGHT one day.  The image of the serpent's head crushed, crushed hard, so hard the heel of the crusher, a descendant of Adam and Eve, bruised.  And God holds to His promises. It's impossible for Him not to. Years go forward, and Isaiah reminds the decedents of Adam and Eve that God will make it happen. How? By His passionate commitment to His promise. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN. Hold on, Israel. The Messiah will come. God is not passively promising but boldly stating. 

I remember a brainstorming session with our mission team where we threw out ideas about planning for the summer camp we hosted for one hundred orphans from the state-run shelter. We could tell when the passion showed up at the table because the conversation turned from what we thought we were capable of doing to what we WANTED to do. Siew Ling, our missionary partner passionate about the plight of the orphan, spoke up, "I want to take all the kids to Disney, but I can't yet, so guess I want to bring Disney to them.” We hesitated for a split second and then gave in to the dreams and ideas that were swarming within. Each of us shared how we envisioned creating a Disney World atmosphere in the countryside of Mongolia. 

"I'd like a roller coaster for the older kids!" I said. Hey, we were dreaming, so why not. It was fun to dream. After we got all our dreams out on the table and realized it was nearly impossible, we decided to go for it. 

"Oh, it's going to happen," Troy said with a big grin on his face. "Even the roller coaster," he added. 

Our passion made it happen that year.
All of us got involved, the missionaries, the paid staff, every single one of us invested our time, talent, and money like a bunch of crazy people. Disney was nearly all we thought of that entire spring. 

I pray I'll never forget the team's excitement, which may have surpassed even that of the children as we unveiled our makeshift version of the Disney theme park we put together for the children. It came complete with a castle, the Disney characters (which we all were dressed up to resemble), and best of all.... a roller coaster.
Our passion was bigger than our small budget. It was greater than our limitations and more stubborn than our obstacles. We did it!
 Sometime during the chaos of that first day, I noted the long line waiting for the roller coaster ride. The kids were all abuzz with how much fun it was. I peeked in to see myself and found my husband Troy and one of our volunteers hard at work. The roller coaster room was boxed off with sheets. One of those sheets was the movie screen of a roller coaster ride complete with surround sound roller coaster sound effects. The kids would climb into a swing hung from the canopy rafters, and Troy and our volunteers would stand behind them, pushing them as the roller coaster on the movie screen went up and swinging them down as the movie showed the roller coaster racing down. They would shake the swing and bounce it while the kids screamed as if they were on a real true ride. The guys did this all day long, dripping in sweat, with smiles on their faces. 

Passion. 

Now dear reader, imagine the Lord of Heaven's Armies. What can stop Him when he is passionately committed? What or who would dare stand in His way? And who is the Lord of Heaven's Armies passionate about? You.