Burnout

Overcoming Christian Burnout!

Isaiah 49:3-4
3 He said to me, "You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor."
4a But I said, "I have labored to no purpose;
I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.”

How often have I have found myself, while not necessarily uttering these words, finding this sentiment upon my heart? I realize that I am a servant of God and, even though I don’t feel comfortable with sitting back and doing nothing, a part of me always seeks a sense of fairness with those that I perceive are not carrying their own weight in the body. Often I feel like I have made a commitment to do God’s work and yet, even though I’ve put in several hours and have high expectations of others, I feel that the work I have put forth was in vain.

Unfortunately, we can’t always see the effects that we have upon someone else’s heart, and sometimes we are just planting seeds for someone else to harvest. The truth is that the only heart we are responsible for mobilizing into action is our own, and we know (and can be comforted by the fact) that God helps us with that task!
I really believe something I recently read and take comfort in it: “Just as a parent is pleased with the efforts of his little child to please him, though it be only by picking a daisy or walking across a room, so is our Father in heaven pleased with the poor performances of His believing children. He looks at the motive, principle, and intention of their actions, and not merely at their quantity and quality. He regards them as members of His own dear Son, and for His sake, wherever there is a single eye, He is well-pleased.” (J. C. Ryle). Maybe my actions don’t produce the results I wished for, or those that I anticipated, but as long as I’m producing good fruit, I believe God is pleased.

It struck me deep how the Lord responded to Isaiah:

Isaiah 49:6
"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." (Emphasis mine)

Whenever I get to a point where I feel that my labor is in vain, I need to realize that my reaction is the direct result of taking my focus off the goal (God and his Glory). I believe He would tell me I’m thinking too small, and not taking on enough. This isn’t something that is easy to come to grips with, and it really seems nonsensical -- but does it make any less sense than knowing that one must die before one can truly live? God often has us do things that are completely opposite of what our understanding would be on the same issue. (“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9). The next time I feel I have spent all my strength in vain, I need to look to Him who is able to give me His strength.

I’m not saying we don’t all need a rest, and rest is biblical (“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27). Taking breaks is good thing, but just like anything else in excess it can become an unhealthy habit if taken too far. Don’t let your break get to the point of being perpetual and you never do anything for God.

The question remains: what are you doing for God? Would God tell you the task you have taken on is too small?

God Bless,
JPH