“How are you always on fire for God?” My new friend Vincent recently asked me this as we talked during the college Bible study group for the local Asian church here in the States.
My initial response was short, “I’m not.” I explained how there are times when I don’t want to read the Bible, I don’t feel a deep love for God, or I simply don’t want to worship Him. That’s the honest truth. Is that bad? Is that wrong? Sure, I should always crave studying the Bible and worshipping the Lord. And my love for God should always be deep. But the reality is I am an imperfect human being.
It’s interesting how people project a certain standard of Christian faith upon missionaries such as myself. But when it comes down to it, I face the same struggles everyone else does. If you look at the life of Paul in the Bible and read his writings, you can see how that was true for him as well.
In this past month, I have connected with a thriving and very vibrant group of college students at my local Asian church. It’s encouraging to see how passionate they are about their faith. It reminds me of the Asian students I’ve met in Asia. While they don’t have the same freedom as the college students I have met here, their passion burns just as brightly.
But I am sure if I asked one of our key Asian believers in Asia “How are you always on fire for God?” they may have a similar response as I did when I was asked that same question.
So while we may go through moments in our Christian walk where our passion isn’t ablaze like we want it to be, my prayer is that we are always drawn into a deeper relationship with our Savior. I’ll leave you with this quote I heard a few years ago: “Always be in close proximity to your Savior.”