BURNT-OUT!
NOVEMBER 2012
by Lisa Maki
Not because something is about God and for God means that it is where He wants you to be and what He wants you to do for the time being. This is a lesson I’ve learned the hard way, and continue to learn until now.
Jesus said to Peter in John 21:18: “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish”.
When I was young in the Lord and even during the first years of my walk, I used to participate in almost every church activity that I could think of. Everything was just so exciting for me. I was so hungry for the Word and for fellowship with other believers. I never had to question myself back then if God was leading me to go here or there. I just went everywhere I was invited to go. For me it was all about God and everything about Him is good.
As I grew more mature in this walk, God started showing me that there is the “good”, the “acceptable”, and the “perfect” will of God. He started leading me to His perfect will, which is where I’ve always wanted to be in the first place. This perfect will is the highest level of His will and which requires a greater level of discernment. It is not just a matter of choosing the good from the bad but a matter of discerning which amongst the good is His perfect will.
The Scripture above says: You will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish”.
Stretching our hands is a sign of surrendering to our Father. And it is only through surrender that He brings us to His perfect will ... a place where our flesh will resist ... a place where we do not wish to go.
For someone who has been so busy serving the Lord and going from place to place, being in a standstill is the worst place to be. Yet, if this is God’s perfect will for you for the season, resisting Him will not do you any good. Nothing will work, no matter how you try. If you continue to move when He is telling you to stop, He may be forced to do something drastic that will not give you any choice but to be in bed. I’ve seen this happen before my very eyes.
I truly believe that this is one major problem of the Church today. A lot of our ministers, church workers, and fellow believers are so busy to even seek God if they are still on the right track with His perfect will, let alone hear His voice. So many Christians have been plagued with a hasty spirit, wanting to do everything instantly. So many Christians have restless spirits. No wonder so many of them are “burnt-out”. The worse part is, even those who are burnt-out will not admit that they are, until something explodes right before their faces. Some don’t even know that they are already getting burnt-out. I am guilty of this. I used to think that my feeling of burnt-out is just some stress that goes with the territory, some kind of trials and tribulations that Jesus said I will go through. What I didn’t know then was that the trials and tribulations never referred to feeling burnt-out. In fact, when these trials come, I should be at peace instead of all worked up.
Our enemy, the devil, wants us to be worn out, so that he can attack us easily. He wants us to be so busy and exhausted in ministry so that we will not have the energy to fight him. Sounds pretty obvious to me, and yet we still don’t get it.
Jesus Himself spent more time in quietness, communing with His Father, than doing ministry. His disciples saw this, which was why they asked Him to “teach them how to pray”. They could have said: “Teach us how to cast out demons” ... or “Teach us how to heal” ... or “Teach us how to preach”. They knew that the secret to His power was in His quiet time alone with the Father.
I am not talking about corporate prayer here, or some group Bible study, or some fellowship with other believers. I am talking about your own personal undivided time with God. This should exceed our time for ministry. In fact, this is the very essence of the cross. The vertical part is longer than the horizontal part simply because our relationship with God (represented by the vertical part) is more important than our relationship with others (represented by the horizontal part). Even the greatest commandment is about loving God, which is higher than the second greatest commandment: loving others as yourself.
Church, let us examine ourselves in the light of what God is trying to tell us through this article. He is speaking to me as He is speaking to all of you. Let us be honest with ourselves and ask if we are spending more time with God than we are with ministry or any church-related activity. Let us allow God to expose us and bring before us everything that we need to repent for. Let us all go back at the foot of the cross and surrender everything to Him, asking Him to lead us to His perfect will. Let us all ask for a deeper discernment so that we will be able to see from afar which among the choices we have is God’s perfect will for us and which are not.
It’s time to raise our standards, church. Let’s not be deceived into thinking that everything that is about God is His perfect will for us. Let’s not be pressured by others who are trying to make us do things that God has not called us to do. Let’s learn to put our foot down when people are trying to get us busy when God is telling us to be still. Let’s make our undivided time alone with God be our top most priority.
If we can do all these, then God will bring us back to a place of perfect peace.
“In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)
Jesus said to Peter in John 21:18: “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish”.
When I was young in the Lord and even during the first years of my walk, I used to participate in almost every church activity that I could think of. Everything was just so exciting for me. I was so hungry for the Word and for fellowship with other believers. I never had to question myself back then if God was leading me to go here or there. I just went everywhere I was invited to go. For me it was all about God and everything about Him is good.
As I grew more mature in this walk, God started showing me that there is the “good”, the “acceptable”, and the “perfect” will of God. He started leading me to His perfect will, which is where I’ve always wanted to be in the first place. This perfect will is the highest level of His will and which requires a greater level of discernment. It is not just a matter of choosing the good from the bad but a matter of discerning which amongst the good is His perfect will.
The Scripture above says: You will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish”.
Stretching our hands is a sign of surrendering to our Father. And it is only through surrender that He brings us to His perfect will ... a place where our flesh will resist ... a place where we do not wish to go.
For someone who has been so busy serving the Lord and going from place to place, being in a standstill is the worst place to be. Yet, if this is God’s perfect will for you for the season, resisting Him will not do you any good. Nothing will work, no matter how you try. If you continue to move when He is telling you to stop, He may be forced to do something drastic that will not give you any choice but to be in bed. I’ve seen this happen before my very eyes.
I truly believe that this is one major problem of the Church today. A lot of our ministers, church workers, and fellow believers are so busy to even seek God if they are still on the right track with His perfect will, let alone hear His voice. So many Christians have been plagued with a hasty spirit, wanting to do everything instantly. So many Christians have restless spirits. No wonder so many of them are “burnt-out”. The worse part is, even those who are burnt-out will not admit that they are, until something explodes right before their faces. Some don’t even know that they are already getting burnt-out. I am guilty of this. I used to think that my feeling of burnt-out is just some stress that goes with the territory, some kind of trials and tribulations that Jesus said I will go through. What I didn’t know then was that the trials and tribulations never referred to feeling burnt-out. In fact, when these trials come, I should be at peace instead of all worked up.
Our enemy, the devil, wants us to be worn out, so that he can attack us easily. He wants us to be so busy and exhausted in ministry so that we will not have the energy to fight him. Sounds pretty obvious to me, and yet we still don’t get it.
Jesus Himself spent more time in quietness, communing with His Father, than doing ministry. His disciples saw this, which was why they asked Him to “teach them how to pray”. They could have said: “Teach us how to cast out demons” ... or “Teach us how to heal” ... or “Teach us how to preach”. They knew that the secret to His power was in His quiet time alone with the Father.
I am not talking about corporate prayer here, or some group Bible study, or some fellowship with other believers. I am talking about your own personal undivided time with God. This should exceed our time for ministry. In fact, this is the very essence of the cross. The vertical part is longer than the horizontal part simply because our relationship with God (represented by the vertical part) is more important than our relationship with others (represented by the horizontal part). Even the greatest commandment is about loving God, which is higher than the second greatest commandment: loving others as yourself.
Church, let us examine ourselves in the light of what God is trying to tell us through this article. He is speaking to me as He is speaking to all of you. Let us be honest with ourselves and ask if we are spending more time with God than we are with ministry or any church-related activity. Let us allow God to expose us and bring before us everything that we need to repent for. Let us all go back at the foot of the cross and surrender everything to Him, asking Him to lead us to His perfect will. Let us all ask for a deeper discernment so that we will be able to see from afar which among the choices we have is God’s perfect will for us and which are not.
It’s time to raise our standards, church. Let’s not be deceived into thinking that everything that is about God is His perfect will for us. Let’s not be pressured by others who are trying to make us do things that God has not called us to do. Let’s learn to put our foot down when people are trying to get us busy when God is telling us to be still. Let’s make our undivided time alone with God be our top most priority.
If we can do all these, then God will bring us back to a place of perfect peace.
“In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)
