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January 2022
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Do you feel burned out? Are you struggling with physical and emotional exhaustion?
Dr. Judy Cha, a counselor, says it’s important to recognize the symptoms of burnout. Some are:
Increased irritability
Increased impatience
Increased inflexibility
Difficulty sleeping
Increased conflicts at home
Decreased effectiveness at work
Decreased physical energy and emotional numbness
General dissatisfaction with life
Decreased sense of pleasure in things
The lack of self-care and poor boundary-setting with others often leads us to be vulnerable to burnout, but there are deeper, more unconscious heart motivations usually at play. As beings made in God’s image, all of us have innate desires for power, control, approval, and comfort. These are not bad desires, but when we are confronted with life’s pressures, these desires can become disordered. More effective strategies are needed to manage stress and live life.
Jesus modeled three keys toward preventing burnout. He was fully aware of who he was in body and soul. He interacted with his Father. He shared his burdens with his closest followers.
The Gospels show Jesus withdrawing when he needed to grieve the death of John the Baptist. As a Jewish man, he kept the Sabbath—a time of rest—each week. He spoke to his Father early in the morning. As he lived his life with his disciples, he brought his inner circle into the profound moments he experienced, such as his anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.
We are in desperate need of rest within our souls. We need to reach the place where we are absolutely satisfied with who we are simply because God created us. We need to embrace our identity and worth in the reality that we are made in God’s image.
Do you need to establish some boundaries to manage your family life or your work life? Do you need to embrace habits of better nutrition and added exercise to help combat burnout?
Take time to consider what makes life meaningful to you. Journal about what’s truly important and reorder your priorities.
Intentionally interact with Jesus who is with us and empathizes with our struggle. Pour out the cares and concerns of your heart to him.
Do not hold others’ burdens or your own longer than necessary. When you wake up in the morning, pray for God’s help to care for those in need—no more, no fewer, than what the Lord knows you can handle.
As you go to sleep, ask God to help you release the trauma of the day. Always remember that we live by faith in Jesus, so we do not need to fear our sense of inadequacy.
Share with others. As beings made in God’s image, we are relational and need input from outside of ourselves to be healthy. Involve people in your life who you feel safe being honest with, who can call you out on things, and who will remind you of Christ and your identity in him.
Although the full impact of the pandemic is still uncertain, we can anticipate a prolonged recovery period. When we rest in Christ for our identity, the external crisis—no matter how devastating or frightening—can rage on, but the crisis in our inner being will subside and empower us to face whatever circumstances come our way. We can offer the same grace to others that we have received from God. We can fortify our soul to participate in God’s plans without becoming weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9).
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In 2 Samuel 16:5-13 there’s a strange/extraordinary story. It likely will surprise you in what it teaches about becoming angry and taking offense.
They traveled on. When David reached Bahurim, one of Saul’s family, Shimei, the son of Gera, came out of his house and cursed David constantly there in the road, throwing stones at him and at his servants even though David’s soldiers were all around, supporting him. Go on! Get out, you man of blood! You worthless man! The Eternal One has finally punished you for taking the kingdom from Saul, for shedding the blood of his family and subjects and reigning in his place. That’s why the Eternal One has taken the kingdom from your bloody hands and given it into the hands of your son Absalom. Abishai, Zeruiah’s son, was offended and amazed. Why should you let this worthless dog curse you, my king? Say the word, and I’ll chop his head off. Why should this matter to you? What do we, sons of Zeruiah, have in common? If he insults me because the Eternal has told him to, who are we to ask him why he does it? Listen, Abishai—and all of you! My own son seeks to kill me today, so why shouldn’t this man of Benjamin? Leave him alone and let him curse me, as the Eternal One wills it. Maybe the Eternal will look at everything done against me and render something good in its place today. So they traveled on their way; and Shimei followed, too, along the hill opposite them, shouting curses and throwing stones and flinging dust.
Shimei cursed King David and literally threw stones at him. Abishai, one of David’s warriors, wanted to cut off the cursing drunk’s head.
How did David respond? He chose neither offense nor anger nor violence. David was open to learn even from someone who despised him. He believed that God could use people who have differing views than we do to teach us something.
It might be God’s will that something good could come out of the criticism and cursing of David if he was willing to learn from it. David told those with him to leave Shimei alone, to ignore him—even though he continued to berate David.
How will you respond when things don’t work out the way you want politically (as was the case here) or when life doesn’t pan out the way you want in some other area of your life?
Will you become enraged, filled with anger? Will you engage in cursing and harassment? Will you embrace violence? Will you engage in strategic ignoring? Will you seek to learn if God has a lesson to teach you?
How will you react when you feel offended and what do you think is God’s will for you when you do?
-Michael
