2023-11-15
Isaiah 30:15 NKJV
Burnout is characterized by disengagement, and stress by over-engagement. In burnout, your emotions become blunted; stress makes them over-reactive. Burnout causes emotional damage; stress primarily causes physical damage. Burnout affects motivation and drive; stress affects your physical energy. Depression from burnout comes from loss of hope and ideals; stress-related depression comes from your body’s need to conserve energy and protect itself. Burnout triggers helplessness and hopelessness; stress triggers urgency and hyperactivity. Burnout produces detachment; stress produces panic, phobias, and anxiety. Burnout may not kill you, but it makes life feel like it’s not worth living. So, what’s the answer?
God said, “In returning and rest you shall be saved.” Author Bev Murrill writes: “Those of us in ministry run on our own very ‘important’ treadmills. And as the leader goes, so go the followers. That’s an awesome responsibility. Those of us whose role is to influence others need to be aware of what we say and do because we’ll ‘be judged more strictly’ (See James 3:1 NCV). We’re all sick of influential Christians falling into behavior that disempowers those who trusted their leaders… Whether it be sexual sin, anger, self- righteousness, or dishonesty… we need to examine ourselves instead of pointing and accusing. Spend time with the One who has the capacity to strip us down to the bare bones of our heart’s cry. It’s easy to start believing your own publicity and taking the measurement of who you are from other people’s opinions… Only God’s opinion counts, and that’s hard to discern unless you take time to stop and let him tell you.”
Soul food: 1 Chron 10:1-12:22; John 9:13-23; Ps 83:9-18; Prov 26:13-16
2023-11-14
1 Timothy 1:12 AMPC
Another form of burnout is “compassion fatigue,” and people helpers are the most vulnerable. Symptoms include the belief that you’re no longer effective, treating yourself and others with detachment, withdrawing from your responsibilities, avoiding social and interpersonal contact, and feeling “beaten.” If you’re a type-A personality to start with, you’re at even greater risk.
One counselor says driven people often “suffer from an ‘adrenaline addiction’ and unconsciously look for ways to get little surges, similar to the high people get from alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine, except they get their highs from controlling people and making complex decisions… Spiritual causes of stress include sexual temptation, anger, and despair, jealousy of other people’s success, and anxiety about finances. Pastors are often placed on pedestals… and these expectations can’t be met. So in an effort to please, they become too goal-oriented for their people… or too accommodating of their spiritual slackness… they become perfectionists… overdeveloping one side of their ministry or identifying so closely with their calling that it falls apart.
Your body gives you warning signals; insomnia, digestive problems, headaches, fatigue, muscle tension, teeth grinding, and high blood pressure. Sadly, it seldom slows the victim down – until an ulcer, stroke, or heart attack occur. As a pastor, you need to spend as much time with the strong as the weak; they give you strength and support… they can be trained for ministry… and having more hands on deck enhances the spiritual and emotional health of your church.”
Soul food: 1 Chron 7:20-9:44; John 9:1-12; Ps 83:1-8; Prov 26:7-12
2023-11-13
Proverbs 20:6 NIV
Pastor Rowland Croucher writes: “The children had gone to school, my wife was off to work, and I did something I’d never done before. I turned the phone down, put a note on the door, and went back to bed. I was burned out. Within two months I had resigned my ministry… Three out of four pastors report anger, depression, fear, and alienation. The reasons include… a disparity between idealistic expectations and hard reality… lack of boundaries… workaholism… feelings of incompetence… conflict between being a leader and being a servant at the same time… ‘playing it safe’ to avoid upsetting powerful parishioners… and loneliness (pastors are less likely to have a close friend than almost anybody).”
Ministering in your own strength virtually guarantees you will end up as another statistic. Paul was able to go the distance and finish strong because he depended on God to give him the needed strength. One Bible teacher says avoiding burnout means
(a) having a definite call on your life and a strong relationship with Jesus,
(b) seeking His vision and being willing to do whatever He asks,
(c) never losing sight of the people behind the work,
(d) never taking your position for granted,
(e) respecting the guy above you, and submitting willingly to authority,
(f) knowing that you’re fulfilling God’s will and your reward is laid up in heaven,
(g) having a servant’s heart,
(h) putting loyalty above personal feelings, and
(i) never being too big to do small things, or too small to do big things.
Practice these principles and you won’t burn out.
Soul food: 1 Chron 6:1-7:19; John 8:42-59; Ps 133; Prov 26:1-6
2023-11-12
Romans 5:5 NKJV
Jon Walker says: “I’ve struggled with my weight most of my life. I’ve dropped weight and put it back on. I’ve tried every diet, and made up some of my own. I maintained a friendly battle with weight till I became extremely ill, and for a year I was unable to walk beyond the mailbox. Needless to say, I gained more weight than ever and found myself facing a huge challenge. I needed to lose more pounds than there are days in a month. With age nipping at my heels… it wasn’t as easy to drop the pounds as it used to be, and I found myself feeling hopeless – the kind of hopelessness that makes you think, ‘What’s the use? I might as well not even try.’
No doubt you can relate, not necessarily to the weight issue, but to the hopelessness. Maybe you’re in a stressful marriage… or facing health issues that have you thinking ‘What’s the use?’ Or in a frustrating job… or facing a difficult family situation… or wondering if you’ll ever get good enough grades to graduate… or dealing with the death of the most important person in your life… or struggling through so many failed attempts to have a child.
Here’s the truth: We serve a God of hope, and it’s a hope that won’t ‘disappoint [us].’ It’s not based on feelings; it’s rooted in a relationship with the One who can be trusted above all others. We wait together for this unseen hope, knowing the God of hope will not abandon or ‘disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.'”
Soul food: 1 Sam 16:1-23; 2 Cor 4:7-5:1
2023-11-11
Hebrews 6:18 MSG
Does your situation look impossible? Are you getting ready to quit? Don’t! Emilie Batisse was seventy-nine when she was injured in a hit-and-run accident and wasn’t expected to live. When Norman Vincent Peale went to visit her, he noticed a row of brand-new poetry books that hadn’t been opened. When he asked her about them, she said, “‘I love poetry, but I haven’t read those… I’m saving them for my old age.'” Mrs. Batisse lived to read those books many times, and when she eventually died at ninety-one, she was planning a trip to Europe.
Hope is wishing for something to come true; faith is believing it will happen. Hope is wanting something so desperately that despite all evidence to the contrary, you keep believing God for it. And the remarkable thing is that the act of hoping produces a strength of its own.
When Cornell University conducted a study on the effects of hope, Dr. Harold G. Wolff reported that people with hope can endure incredible burdens. One group comprised twenty-five thousand soldiers imprisoned during World War II. Subjected to forced labor, bad food, and filth, many died while others showed only slight damage. Interviews with survivors revealed a far-above-average ability to hope!
How were they able to keep their hope alive? By drawing pictures of the girls they planned to marry, designing their future homes, and organizing business management seminars. Hope not only kept them well, it kept them alive! It’s easy to see why Paul describes hope as “an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past… appearances… to the very presence of God” (v. 19).
Soul food: 1 Chron 3-5; John 8:31-41; Ps 99; Prov 25:26-28
2023-11-10
Ephesians 5:17 MSG
To fulfill God’s plan for your life, you need to do these:
(1) Map out your day. Plan your time and stick to your plan. Only one out of three people do that. One leadership expert says, “It’s… rare… that I get up in the morning wondering what I’ll be doing that day.” That’s why he is a leader – and an expert!
(2) Keep first things first. Goethe said, “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” Most of us don’t get to our most important tasks until midafternoon. We complete low-priority tasks first so we will have a sense of accomplishment. That’s unwise. And if you plan your day but don’t follow through, your results will be the same as those who don’t plan at all. As Dwight Eisenhower observed, “Taking first things first…often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.”
(3) Be focused but flexible. Expect the unexpected and learn to adapt. Conditions constantly change, and so must your methods of getting things done.
(4) Learn to delegate. People fall into two categories: clingers and dumpers. Clingers refuse to let go of anything they think is important, whether or not they’re the best person for the job. Their goal is perfection. Dumpers, on the other hand, are quick to off-load tasks without giving much thought to how well the job gets done. Their goal is to get it off their desk ASAP. Proper delegation calls for being wise, secure in who you are, and generous toward others. It also means the job gets done right – and in the end, that is what you want.
Soul food: 1 Chron 1-2; John 8:21-30; Ps 115; Prov 25:23-25
