What is an obsession?
And is it necessarily bad?
It depends on whom you ask. From a clinical or psychological point of view, they would tell us an obsession is a compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea.
If we wanted Webster’s two cents, he would tell us an obsession is an unwanted feeling or emotion accompanied by symptoms of anxiety.
But to the average person on the street an obsession is someone who is simply crazy.
Is it possible to be obsessed and in your right mind? Can an obsession really have God’s blessing? Can it be God’s will for your life that you are obsessed?
I would suggest only if your obsession is magnificent.
It is with this in mind that God gives Nehemiah the charge to leave the comforts of Persia and return to the ruins of Jerusalem in order to repair the torn down walls.
The walls gave the city its protection, its strength, its pride and without the walls the city isn’t the same. It’s St. Louis without the Arch; it’s Chicago without Wrigley Field; it’s Harlem without the Apollo.
Jerusalem is not complete without the walls. No walls, No Israel.
God planted the seed because the need was so magnificent. This is what gave birth to the obsession; Nehemiah was magnificently obsessed.
The question now becomes: are you just obsessed or are you magnificently obsessed?
How you answer the question will determine if your obsession is indeed from God. An obsession from God is bigger than you. It has a bigger purpose, a lasting purpose, an effectual purpose.
How many of us today can say we have a lasting purpose, an effectual purpose, a purpose from God?
Nehemiah’s fellow countrymen were not concerned about the conditions in their native land because their obsession wasn’t big enough, but Nehemiah was magnificently obsessed to rebuild the wall and improve the conditions in Jerusalem.
Most people live their entire lives never to find their obsession, never to find their purpose.
The question now becomes do you have a magnificent obsession? If not, I dare you to reach for one.
In this world, you have to give in order to get. You may ask, “What do I have to give?” You better give God praise for what you do have and he in turn will make it MAGNIFICENT!
