Avoiding Burnout!

By John Stallings


A lady had a small son named Jason.

When he was 7, she sent him off to school one day and a little while later there was a knock at the door. She opened the door and it was Jason. She said “Jason, what are you doing here?”

He said, “I've quit school!”
"She said, “Why have you quit school?”
He said, "Well, school is too long, it’s too hard, and it’s boring too.”
She said, “Jason, you’ve just described life, get back on the bus!”

To me that’s funny in a cute sort of way but more importantly it underscores the fact that we’re living in a world where even the very young are becoming fidgety, restless and jaded.

Pressure and stress are far greater than they were in times past and some of it stems from the many more opportunities that are available thanks to modern technology.

BURNOUT/RUNNING ON EMPTY

Burnout as a concept creeped into our lexicon back during the Second World War. Battle fatigue became a common malady. It resulted from the prolonged stress of being on the front lines of battle without relief. The officers soon learned that they had to pull their personnel back and give them some relief, some R & R in order for them to be effective in future battles.

Today a much heard term is career burnout. It describes a very similar syndrome. If you feel that you're going into battle everyday as you go to your job, you may be burning out. You're frustrated because life isn't fun anymore. You drag yourself home each day, unable to enjoy your family because you're emotionally depleted and physically exhausted. You're in the process of being burned out.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the term “clergy burnout.” The number of men and women leaving the ministry on an almost daily basis is appalling. This is one of the real issues in the church today.

“Burn-out” is an eighties/ninety’s term for “growing weary. “Compassion fatigue” is the spiritual term.”

Not to trivialize the situation, but burnout is often more- “disillusionment than exhaustion,” and more “discouragement than fatigue.” Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

Burnout is a human response to long-term exhaustion and diminished interest, and may take months or years to manifest. Burnout is a demon born of the society and times we live in and our ongoing struggle to invest our lives with meaning. Burnout isn’t a condition that gets better by being ignored, nor is it any kind of disgrace. On the contrary, it’s a problem born of good intentions.

What exactly is burnout? It’s defined in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary as "exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration."

A burned-out light bulb doesn’t produce light. Neither does a burned-out Christian! God promises that you and I will reap the harvest if we just don’t burn out.

Do God's faithful people ever tire of doing good? Apparently so. I say that because Paul addresses this very issue in Galatians.

Listen to Paul…

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we will reap if we faint not. Gal. 6:9

As I said, burnout in a Christian is also called compassion fatigue. It's well doer's burnout. It happens sometimes when a very dedicated, committed disciple of Jesus suddenly wakes up and realized he's/she's tired - tired of giving, tired of doing, tired of serving. He finds that the joy of service is gone.

Apparently the Apostle realized that it’s possible for the "heart" to go out of our service and perhaps cause us to give up and quit.

I. THOSE WHO MUST BE ON GUARD FOR BURNOUT…

A. Any Workers in God’s kingdom can get weary.

This passage wasn't addressed to a select few. It went out to multiple churches in Galatia.

Preachers Sunday school teachers, Missionaries, those with gifts of serving, and others are susceptible to this. It happens to all kinds of people concerned for the work of the Lord.

B. Parents sometimes get weary.

I read about a woman who telephoned a friend and asked how she was feeling. "Terrible," came the reply over the wire. "My head's splitting and my back and legs are killing me. The house is a mess, and the kids are simply driving me crazy." Very sympathetically the caller said, "Listen, go and lie down, I'll come over right away and cook lunch for you, clean up the house, and take care of the children while you get some rest. By the way, how is Sam?"
"Sam?" the complaining housewife gasped. "I have no husband named Sam."
"My heavens," exclaimed the first woman, "I must have dialed the wrong number."
There was a long pause. "Are you still coming over?" the mother asked hopefully.

Those of us with our children raised are prone to say to those with little ones, "Enjoy it, 'cause it'll be over sooner than you think." We may have forgotten that it doesn't look that way when you still have two in diapers or a house full of teenagers!

C. Those who have served a long time get tired.

Length of service doesn't always make us more faithful. We’re seeing more and more husbands/wives desert their mates. Yes, it happens in the faith, too.

When we’re discouraged our motivation for completing a task dwindles!

I've shared this personal experience more than once but it's, to me extremely instructional.

My father was in nursing homes the last six years of his life. I dearly loved him and he loved me. But after a year of going to visit with him almost every day, I began to lag.

For a couple of years of that time I had to drive over a hundred miles one way to visit with him but even during that time we “bent over backwards” to see him often. It was a labor of love. I knew in my heart of hearts I didn’t have to go so often but I wanted to. The fact that on many of those visits I knew he didn’t know we were there didn’t matter because I wanted to see him, I needed to see him.

Sometimes we can see others making mistakes and unwise decisions, and even give them good sound advice but when it comes to internalizing the same truth for ourselves we have a problem being objective.

One day I realized I was burning out, burning out- of all things while doing something good, something noble. Burnout leaves clues, like pulling up to “McDonald’s -To Go” window and trying to make a bank deposit. It's bad enough when you say to the person behind the mike, "Can I get this to go?"

In order to survive I had to begin to pace myself. I had many other responsibilities.Mainly I was pastoring a church. I had the desire, but I’d lost heart, temporarily. We adjusted our schedules and our visits and got some rest and slowly our “heart” came back. I had to deal with my mother too because she was laboring under the same compulsion that we were. We were foolishly barreling down the track trying to out-run each other.

By the grace of God we did what we had to do, acknowledging that we were only human and in the final analysis everyone was the better for it. The bottom line was, we were all on a “self-imposed” treadmill.

In times like these the Devil will try to guilt you. He’ll climb up on your back and ride you and use your ears for stirrups if you’ll allow it. He wants to either “freeze you,” or “fry you,” in to doing too much or too little. Don’t allow it!

D. Those who have seen few results can feel the weariness in well-doing.

We are a results oriented society. When you fish, you produce the stringer of trophies. When you hunt, you save the antlers. When you golf, you have your scorecards. Service to the Lord isn't always that easy to measure as far as results.

JOSHUA

When Joshua sent the soldiers to Ai after Jericho, they thought the victory would come easily. When the men of Ai routed them, the Bible says in Joshua 7: 5,

“The hearts of the people melted, and became as water.”

They were depressed. They lost heart.

Have you ever became depressed over something and said, “Oh, what’s the use anyway?” Have you ever said, “I use to really care. Now I don’t care whether I do it or not?”

We always give up in our hearts before we give up in actions! The Bible teaches in Proverbs 23: 7,“ For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

When we “lose heart” we are in danger of quitting. Jesus taught us in Luke 18: 1 not to “lose heart” in our prayers, “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”

A wealthy woman called the manager of a concert hall. She asked, “Have you found a diamond pendant? I think I lost it in your building last night.”
The manager said, “No, we haven’t found it, but we will look. Please hold the line.”
After several minutes of searching someone found the diamond.
The manager came back on the line and said, “I’ve got good news. We found your pendant . . . Hello? . . . Hello?”
The woman became weary of waiting and had hung up.
The diamond was never claimed.

Whatever your situation : THE ANSWER IS ON THE WAY . . DON’T HANG UP!

It can happen when we grow weary, thinking that non-visible results mean no results.

E. Those effected by the lethargy of others are candidates for this problem of weariness.

Cynicism is a danger to those who work next to people who don't see the real issues and/or don't care. Cynicism is an outlook that says, "Things are never going to work out. It will always be like this," etc.

F. Those experiencing temporary failures can feel weary.

Remember Elijah under the Juniper tree saying- "Lord, just kill me!" Even though the great victory on Mt. Carmel was a decisive blow to the idolatry in Elijah's day, when Jezebel didn't cow to it, Elijah melted in discouragement.

The failure was only temporary, but it took God a while to convince Elijah of it.

G. Those who’re rejected sometimes want to quit.

Rejection hurts! When you plow your life and time into someone and they turn, not only against what you teach, but against you personally, the temptation is to say, "Never again will I put that much into another human being!"

If you’ve lived very long you understand that people will “flip” on you.

Samuel the prophet experienced this. The Israelites rejected his clear, correct teaching and clamored for a king. He got down-in-the-mouth -and that's a bad place for a prophet to be! God finally told him that they hadn't rejected him [Samuel] but they had rejected Him [God.] It's hard not to get the two confused, though.

H. Those who are lonely can become weary in well-doing.

When God came to Elijah under the Juniper tree he asked him what was wrong. He said,

"I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

Doing God's work can have some lonely times.

Sometimes, in order to follow God, you and I must do it alone. It hurts to think that you're going the right way, yet everyone else thinks you’re crazy! Remember Noah?

I. The criticized and mocked can become weary.

Personal criticism always hurts. Sometimes it’s good for us, but sometimes it is unfounded and wrong.

In 1923, as Russian-born engineer Vladimir Zworykin worked on his latest invention, he was told to "spend your time on something more useful." But Zworykin didn't -- and in 1929 he obtained the first patent for his invention, color television.

Among his many achievements, Zworykin also helped perfect the electron microscope and other devices that greatly advanced medical and biological research.

He retired as director of electronic research for RCA in 1954, and in 1966 was awarded the National Medal of Science. Yet criticism marked almost all the milestones of his journey.

J. Those who get caught up in comparisons set themselves up for weariness in well doing.

This sometimes happens to small church pastors. Thousands of them are quitting. Why? It's because the big church is being held up as the standard of success. Little churches are viewed as hokey and anemic. They're on the sick list. They're useless if you listen to some folk. They'd be better off put out of their misery.

For a man who sacrifices the way many small church ministers must sacrifice in order to do the work (I’ve been there) this becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back. I can remember a time when any work for God was considered valid. The man who had the courage to go out on his own and raise up a congregation from nothing had the admiration of the entire body of Christ. Today that isn’t necessarily the case.

Preachers used to be respected by society. Their work was viewed as essential for the good of the community. Today many are held up as objects of scorn and ridicule, or made to look like idiots by the media. [When was the last time you heard a media story about the selfless deeds of some preacher? When was the last time you heard of some scandal involving a preacher?] Our young people aren't going into the ministry today like they have in the past. These are some of the reasons why.

K. Those who feel bored can burnout.

What I refer to here is the-same-old-same-old, day after day, week after week, year after year.

February 2, 1985, during the Daytona 500 Auto Race, the $250,000 car driven by professional driver Donnie Allison was only on its third lap when it rolled to a stop on the infield side of the track. Nothing was mechanically wrong with the car . . . neither was there anything wrong with the driver.

What was the problem? In all the hustle and bustle of doing everything that had to be done to prepare the car for the race . . . somebody forgot to make sure there was fuel in the car. IT WAS OUT OF GAS!

The skill of the driver and the potential of the car were completely nullified.. . simply because somebody forgot to put gas in the car.

In life, regardless of our “skill” and “potential,” if we fail to insure that we have the proper amount of “Spiritual Gas” in our Spiritual tank, WE’LL  SIMPLY RUN OUT OF GAS!

IT’S SO EASY TO QUIT . . . All we have to do is keep going until we’re “running on empty!” Then, when the fuel gauge reads empty . . . we simply quit!

We go from “giving out” to “giving up!”
Cars that aren’t refueled will run out of gas.
Wells that aren’t replenished will run out of water.
Batteries that aren’t recharged lose their power.

We aren’t any different. A Christian that is not refueled, replenished, and recharged will burn out.

L. Those experiencing poor health.

As we grow older we must adjust to ailments that limit our capacity. In the process, we must also adjust our expectations of ourselves.

For many years in evangelistic work we practically lived in our car. We’d close a three or four week revival on Sunday night and then drive a thousand miles or more and start another meeting on Wednesday. Once in my early twenties, I’d spent close to a year in California preaching. We were so anxious to get back home to Florida that I drove three days and nights without sleeping. This is craziness! Then we rented a motel room and went to bed and I couldn’t sleep.

Obviously I couldn’t do anything remotely akin to that now. If we don’t slow down a little and act our age, we’ll pay the consequences in many ways. When you and I “burn the candle at both ends,” we’re not as “bright as we think.”

HOW DO WE AVOID BURNOUT?

Here are five suggestions…

1. REST

Listen to Exodus 20: 8-10:

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

The command to rest is just as valid as the command to work!

A “Workaholic” on a street corner held a sign: “Will work for the fun of it!” Some of us with some age on us have to ask ourselves how much fun we can stand.

Although God wants us to enjoy our work . . . He also wants us to enjoy our rest!

2: CUT YOUR WORKLOAD

Listen to Hebrews 12: 1:

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

In the old west cowboys would use branding irons to brand cattle. Sometimes they’d put too many in the fire and the fire would go out, thus, our modern day term,- too many irons in the fire! Too many “little things” will “pull us down!”

Sea-going ships have to be brought into dry dock to clean off the barnacles. A barnacle is a small crustacean that grows on the hull of the ship. It’s not big enough by itself to cause the ship any problems. However, when enough of them attached themselves to the hull, it causes so much drag that the ship is actually slowed down and has to be brought into dry dock to be cleaned.

Song of Solomon 2: 15, …The little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.”

If we don’t let go of something we will eventually let go of everything… one way or another.


3: LOOSEN UP YOUR SCHEDULE A LITTLE BIT.

You and I must make every effort to live one day at a time.

Matthew 6: 34, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

We are not in a sprint . . . we are in a marathon!

4: STAY FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT.

Ephesians 5: 18: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”

Usually, when a person burns out, he has been trying to live the Christian life by the flesh rather than by the Spirit of God! The disciples didn’t acquire the power they needed even after Jesus was raised from the dead. You’ll remember they were still cowering behind closed doors. It was after Pentecost where they were filled with the Holy Spirit that they were empowered to turn the world upside down.

 5. RENEW YOUR VISION

Where there is no vision, the people perish… Proverbs 29: 18:

Renowned scientist Albert Einstein was on a train.
The conductor asked to see his ticket. Einstein couldn’t find it.
The conductor assured him it would be okay, he could mail him the ticket when he found it.
Einstein told the conductor that it wouldn’t be okay . . . He needed the ticket to know where he was going! [Did the grand old man have a “Senior moment?]

Sometimes we need things to renew our vision of where we are going!

How do we prevent burn out??

1: Rest from your labor.
2: Reduce your workload.
3: Regulate your schedule.
4: Refuel your spirit.
5: Renew your vision.

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.-Isaiah 40:31


Blessings,


John