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
Romeine 5:5 NLV
Jon Walker sê: ‘Ek sukkel al die meeste van my lewe met my gewig. Ek het gewig verloor en dit weer opgetel. Ek het elke dieet probeer en ‘n paar self opgemaak. Ek het ‘n vriendelike stryd met gewig gehandhaaf totdat ek uiters siek geword het en vir ‘n jaar nie verby die posbus kon stap nie. Nodeloos om te sê, het ek meer gewig as ooit opgetel en myself voor ‘n groot uitdaging bevind. Ek moes meer kilogramme verloor as wat daar dae in ‘n maand is. Met die ouderdom wat aan my hakke byt was dit nie so maklik om die kilogramme te laat afval soos dit voorheen was nie en ek het hopeloos begin voel – die soort hopeloosheid wat jou laat dink: ‘Wat is die nut? Ek kan net sowel nie eens probeer nie.’
Jy kan ongetwyfeld jouself daarmee vereenselwig, nie noodwendig met die gewigskwessie nie, maar met die hopeloosheid. Miskien is jy in ‘n stresvolle huwelik, of het gesondheidskwessies wat jou laat dink: ‘Wat is die nut?’ Of ‘n frustrerende werk, ‘n moeilike gesinsituasie; of jy wonder of jy ooit genoeg goeie punte sal kry om universiteit toe te gaan; of jy moet die dood van die belangrikste persoon in jou lewe hanteer; of jy sukkel om ‘n kind te hê.
Hier is die waarheid: Ons dien ‘n God van hoop en dit is ‘n hoop wat ons nie sal teleurstel nie.’ Dit is nie gebaseer op gevoelens nie; dit is gewortel in ‘n verhouding met die Een wat bo alle ander vertrou kan word. Ons wag saam op hierdie onsigbare hoop, met die wete dat die God van hoop: ‘…ons nie [sal] teleurstel nie… Hy het sy liefde mos in ons harte uitgestort deur sy Heilige Gees…’
Sielskos: 1 Sam 16:1-23; 2 Kor 4:7-5:1
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
Hebreërs 6:18 ABA
Lyk jou situasie onmoontlik? Maak jy gereed om tou op te gooi? Moenie! Emilie Batisse was nege-en-sewentig toe sy in ‘n tref-en-trap ongeluk beseer is en dit amper nie oorleef het nie. Toe Norman Vincent Peale haar gaan besoek het, het hy ‘n ry splinternuwe poësieboeke opgelet wat nog nie oopgemaak is nie. Toe hy haar daaroor uitvra, het sy gesê: ‘Ek is mal oor poësie, maar ek het nog nie daardie boeke gelees nie. Ek hou hulle vir my oudag.’ Mev Batisse het tyd gehad om daardie boeke verskeie kere te lees en toe sy uiteindelik op die ouderdom van een-en-negentig oorlede is, was sy besig om ‘n reis na Europa toe te beplan.
Om te hoop is om te wens vir iets om waar te word; geloof is om te glo dat dit gaan gebeur. Toe Cornell Universiteit ‘n studie oor die uitwerking van hoop gedoen het, het dr Harold G. Wolff berig dat mense met hoop ongelooflike laste kan verduur. Een groep het uit vyf-en-twintigduisend soldate wat tydens die Tweede Wêreldoorlog in die tronk was, bestaan. Onderworpe aan dwangarbeid, slegte kos en haglike omstandighede, het baie gesterf terwyl ander net geringe skade getoon het.
Onderhoude met die oorlewendes het ‘n ver bo-gemiddelde vermoë om te hoop, aan die lig gebring! Hulle het hul hoop lewendig gehou deur prentjies te teken van die meisies waarmee hulle sou trou en hul toekomstige huise te ontwerp. Hoop het hulle nie net aan die gang gehou nie, dit het hulle aan die lewe gehou! Dis maklik om te sien hoekom Paulus hoop as ‘…soos ‘n anker wat keer sodat ‘n skip nie wegdryf nie. Ons hoop en ons is seker dat Jesus ons anker is…’ (vers 19 ABA), beskryf.
Sielskos: 1 Kron 3-5; Joh 8:31-41; Ps 99; Spr 25:26-28
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
