“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength...” (Isaiah 40:29–31, ESV)
Two weeks into the fall season, Pastor Tom felt exhausted. For two months, he worked with groups in the church to revamp the curriculum in the Sunday School, paint and redecorate the Sunday School rooms, and train some new teachers. The extra meetings and workdays added many hours to his normal workload of weddings, funerals, leading worship, and so much more. Pastor Tom felt ragged. The busier things became, the weaker Tom felt. Finally, Pastor Tom increased his prayer time, hoping God would give him extra strength to throw into his work. A few days later, Tom got a severe cold and ended up in bed for six days.
Lying in bed, Pastor Tom poured out his soul to God. He felt guilty taking time for bedrest when everybody at the church was busy with all the new fall meetings and programs. He wondered why God hadn’t heard his prayer and given him more strength. Instead, Pastor Tom laid in bed, weak as a dog, fevers causing him to feel worn out and shaky. On the third day of his bedrest, frustrated and feeling sorry for himself and worthless at the same time, Pastor Tom just fell asleep. He slept more than twenty-five hours over the next two days.
As Pastor Tom began feeling better, he sat outside in a chair in the warm sunshine. With his energy coming back, he shared an afternoon with his wife. As she pulled weeds from the garden, Tom sat on a chair and just spent time talking with her. Later that day, he reflected that it was one of the most memorable afternoons of his life. His wife commented that they spent more time alone together that day than they had since their wedding!
The day before Pastor Tom went back to work, he realized that he was burnt out emotionally and spiritually the week before. His illness was probably brought on by his long hours of work and the stress of all the added meetings and programs. While Tom had been praying to God for more strength to do even more, he should have been seeking God’s help for his burnout. Pastor Tom’s cold virus forced him to stop working. While his body was recovering, Tom’s soul began healing. Tom didn’t need more strength from God to do more work. Tom needed God’s healing strength and rest and patience. Why couldn’t he recognize that before he got sick?
There will be times in your life when burnout or tiredness or overwork take their toll. You too may pray to God for more strength. God may grant you more strength to complete your tasks. However, sometimes, burnout requires you to refocus your energy. God will shake things up in your life so that you quit focusing on doing more and begin to let go of the stresses and busy-ness and pressures weighing you down. When burnout hits, you may want more strength from God when what God knows you need is quiet and patience and peace to heal body and soul. You need spiritual rest and time to recover.
Did you notice how Pastor Tom became sick when he was working too hard? His physical body was weakened by all the stress and pressure, and he succumbed to illness. The same thing happens spiritually. When you push your soul too hard or stuff things down in your heart, after a while spiritual illness will occur. Then, you may have a difficult time figuring out what you need. You may not be able to discern what God is saying to you. That’s the perfect time to slow down, make changes, let go of some of your burdens, and give your soul time to “catch up” with your life. True healing may require that you back away from some of your commitments or rid your mind of some worldly influences. Are you relying more on your own strength than God’s power, causing God to step in and make some changes?
In the book, Embracing Eternity, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins wrote about spiritual burnout. Speaking from their own personal experience, they included the following words of wisdom:
“WE’VE ALL experienced spiritual burnout at one time or another. We’ve all gone through days, weeks, or months of feeling far from God. We may not doubt his goodness or mercy; we just don’t feel as close to him as we once did. We become dry and tired and lonely. Our prayers become stale, and our worship seems forced and empty.
In the middle of this project, I went through a short period of spiritual burnout. It started with a bout of the flu a couple of months ago. I spent a week getting over my sickness and on the heels of that felt completely exhausted spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t shake it. Writing became a chore, not a joy, as it usually is. Thankfully I had the opportunity to get away for a long weekend with my son. We went to a men’s conference in the mountains, where we attended a number of great classes and spent our free time fly-fishing in the Arkansas River. I came home utterly revived and ready to get back to work.
Spiritual burnout comes to us when we least expect it, and often when we can least afford to feel far from God. These are times when we most need to feel God’s hand on our shoulder and hear his gentle whisper in our heart. Oftentimes it is a sign that we are pouring ourselves out more than we are allowing God to fill us. It comes when we spend more time focusing on the things we are doing for God than we do reflecting on the Source behind our ministry. And the cure for burnout is to allow God to renew our strength with his.
“He gives power to those who are tired and worn out,” says the prophet Isaiah; “he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength” (Isaiah 40:29–30).
During times of spiritual burnout, the temptation for most of us is to chase after the Lord. We cry out to him and wear ourselves thin trying to get him to revive our spirit. Maybe what we should do instead is to wait on him. To stop chasing and start relaxing. To rest in his presence and allow him to work. To meditate on his Word. To get away and listen. The best approach to finding revival from God is to simply linger in his presence. A few days of fly-fishing may be just what you need!” (P. 261).
According to the scripture for today, God does give “strength to the weak”. God does bring spiritual power to “those who are tired and worn out” (Isaiah 40:29). However, don’t ever forget that during burnout, God’s strength and power may only occur when you “wait upon the Lord” (Isaiah 40:30). It may only appear when you let go of worldly expectations and find patience and rest in the Lord. Spiritual burnout may only cease when you reorganize your priorities, focus on something different, or let go of some wrongful thinking that got you in trouble in the first place!
Maybe what is hindering you from more spiritual strength is your own attitude. Do you want to push harder when God is saying slow down? Do you tend to throw yourself into fixing things when God wants you to have patience to let Him work? Spiritual burnout is a sign that something is seriously wrong in your life. Waiting on the Lord to reveal why you are hurting may be frustrating. You may not feel God’s closeness. You might feel abandoned by God. What may actually be happening is that you are not listening to your Lord, OR you might be impatient in waiting for God’s perfect timing!
Lying in bed, Pastor Tom poured out his soul to God. He felt guilty taking time for bedrest when everybody at the church was busy with all the new fall meetings and programs. He wondered why God hadn’t heard his prayer and given him more strength. Instead, Pastor Tom laid in bed, weak as a dog, fevers causing him to feel worn out and shaky. On the third day of his bedrest, frustrated and feeling sorry for himself and worthless at the same time, Pastor Tom just fell asleep. He slept more than twenty-five hours over the next two days.
As Pastor Tom began feeling better, he sat outside in a chair in the warm sunshine. With his energy coming back, he shared an afternoon with his wife. As she pulled weeds from the garden, Tom sat on a chair and just spent time talking with her. Later that day, he reflected that it was one of the most memorable afternoons of his life. His wife commented that they spent more time alone together that day than they had since their wedding!
The day before Pastor Tom went back to work, he realized that he was burnt out emotionally and spiritually the week before. His illness was probably brought on by his long hours of work and the stress of all the added meetings and programs. While Tom had been praying to God for more strength to do even more, he should have been seeking God’s help for his burnout. Pastor Tom’s cold virus forced him to stop working. While his body was recovering, Tom’s soul began healing. Tom didn’t need more strength from God to do more work. Tom needed God’s healing strength and rest and patience. Why couldn’t he recognize that before he got sick?
There will be times in your life when burnout or tiredness or overwork take their toll. You too may pray to God for more strength. God may grant you more strength to complete your tasks. However, sometimes, burnout requires you to refocus your energy. God will shake things up in your life so that you quit focusing on doing more and begin to let go of the stresses and busy-ness and pressures weighing you down. When burnout hits, you may want more strength from God when what God knows you need is quiet and patience and peace to heal body and soul. You need spiritual rest and time to recover.
Did you notice how Pastor Tom became sick when he was working too hard? His physical body was weakened by all the stress and pressure, and he succumbed to illness. The same thing happens spiritually. When you push your soul too hard or stuff things down in your heart, after a while spiritual illness will occur. Then, you may have a difficult time figuring out what you need. You may not be able to discern what God is saying to you. That’s the perfect time to slow down, make changes, let go of some of your burdens, and give your soul time to “catch up” with your life. True healing may require that you back away from some of your commitments or rid your mind of some worldly influences. Are you relying more on your own strength than God’s power, causing God to step in and make some changes?
In the book, Embracing Eternity, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins wrote about spiritual burnout. Speaking from their own personal experience, they included the following words of wisdom:
“WE’VE ALL experienced spiritual burnout at one time or another. We’ve all gone through days, weeks, or months of feeling far from God. We may not doubt his goodness or mercy; we just don’t feel as close to him as we once did. We become dry and tired and lonely. Our prayers become stale, and our worship seems forced and empty.
In the middle of this project, I went through a short period of spiritual burnout. It started with a bout of the flu a couple of months ago. I spent a week getting over my sickness and on the heels of that felt completely exhausted spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t shake it. Writing became a chore, not a joy, as it usually is. Thankfully I had the opportunity to get away for a long weekend with my son. We went to a men’s conference in the mountains, where we attended a number of great classes and spent our free time fly-fishing in the Arkansas River. I came home utterly revived and ready to get back to work.
Spiritual burnout comes to us when we least expect it, and often when we can least afford to feel far from God. These are times when we most need to feel God’s hand on our shoulder and hear his gentle whisper in our heart. Oftentimes it is a sign that we are pouring ourselves out more than we are allowing God to fill us. It comes when we spend more time focusing on the things we are doing for God than we do reflecting on the Source behind our ministry. And the cure for burnout is to allow God to renew our strength with his.
“He gives power to those who are tired and worn out,” says the prophet Isaiah; “he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength” (Isaiah 40:29–30).
During times of spiritual burnout, the temptation for most of us is to chase after the Lord. We cry out to him and wear ourselves thin trying to get him to revive our spirit. Maybe what we should do instead is to wait on him. To stop chasing and start relaxing. To rest in his presence and allow him to work. To meditate on his Word. To get away and listen. The best approach to finding revival from God is to simply linger in his presence. A few days of fly-fishing may be just what you need!” (P. 261).
According to the scripture for today, God does give “strength to the weak”. God does bring spiritual power to “those who are tired and worn out” (Isaiah 40:29). However, don’t ever forget that during burnout, God’s strength and power may only occur when you “wait upon the Lord” (Isaiah 40:30). It may only appear when you let go of worldly expectations and find patience and rest in the Lord. Spiritual burnout may only cease when you reorganize your priorities, focus on something different, or let go of some wrongful thinking that got you in trouble in the first place!
Maybe what is hindering you from more spiritual strength is your own attitude. Do you want to push harder when God is saying slow down? Do you tend to throw yourself into fixing things when God wants you to have patience to let Him work? Spiritual burnout is a sign that something is seriously wrong in your life. Waiting on the Lord to reveal why you are hurting may be frustrating. You may not feel God’s closeness. You might feel abandoned by God. What may actually be happening is that you are not listening to your Lord, OR you might be impatient in waiting for God’s perfect timing!