Pastor Joshua Goodin
“Are You Burnt Out? Pt. 3
1 Kings 19:9-18 (NIV)
Strategies and tips to deal with burnout. One reason you're burnt out is that you neglect your physical needs, you cannot survive without eating, drinking, or sleeping.
Some things you shouldn’t welcome at certain points in your life. Sometimes you don’t realize that you are snacking because you are dealing with some stuff and it's your safety net, a place of comfort. You know you’re burnt out when you don’t feel like living anymore.
*If you’re going to deal with burnout, you must get to a place where God can get to you. When was the last time God spoke to you? When was the last time you were in a place where God could speak to you, and tell you some things about yourself? When was the last time you just sat and listened to God talk? Most of the time when God wants to speak to you, he gets you in isolated places. You don’t like spending time by yourself because you don’t want to hear what God has to say. You stay around people and stay busy instead. Learn how to sit in silence. You don’t always have to like what God has to say or agree with where he wants to take you or move you to. You must understand that if God wants to take you somewhere that he’s allowing certain things to happen in your life because he has a specific outcome that will come from those things. Learn how to trust God’s plan because some of the things that you have planned for your life are untrustworthy. Some of the things you want to do or places you want to go are untrustworthy because they will expose you to some things that God never wanted you to see.
*It’s a strong feeling of burnout that will come over you when you feel like you are the only one left to do the work. Sometimes you become so exhausted that you feel like you can’t go on, and it’s ok to complain to God, but you must be ok with God’s response to your complaints. You must be ok and still have a willingness to do what God called you to do, even when you complain about it. If God looked at your life, what would he complain about? One thing God would complain about is that at times you settle for less than what you deserve. God has all this stuff, but you settle and compromise for crumbs. Thank God that he didn’t allow you to stay in a place where you were getting crumbs. When you realize you deserve the whole loaf and wake up to realize who you are, what God made you to be, and put on the inside of you, you will learn that you don’t have to settle for anything. Don’t settle for the bottom of the ground when God has said you can have all of it (see Philippians 4:19). You don’t have to be rich to be wealthy. When God looks at your wealth, he looks at your family and your health, and he says you are wealthy. You want money, but your health is in bad condition, your family is out of sorts, and your mind is all over the place. Thank God that you're wealthy because you’re in your right mind, have the activity of your limbs, and your children are provided for and taken care of. If you never have a mansion or a fancy car, you’re still wealthy. Every time you don’t have enough money, God makes a way to pay your bills. He made a way when you didn’t know how you would get from this point to that point. Trust in God, and anything you can’t get means you’re not supposed to have it right now. You measure life in the wrong increments. Measuring by how much money is in your bank account. The hardest thing about being rich is staying rich because you’re always trying to figure out how to keep what you have. Live by a kingdom principle, give and it will come back to you (see Luke 6:38). God will use people who don’t like you to bless you.
*God wants to have communion with you and fellowship with you. You don’t need to leave or jump to figure out your purpose in life. When you live by the word of God and your ways are pleasing, he will give you the desires of your heart. When you apply the word to your life everything you need you can get if you use the word. In order to get the word and apply the word, you must spend time with the word. When you spend time in His Word, you’re spending time with God. It’s not enough to read the scripture, you must meditate on it. Read it again and don’t just read the verse, read the chapter, and ask questions about what God is trying to say to you through his word. Don’t just read the word, apply the word. God will bless you in ways that you can’t imagine if you learn how to apply the word to your life. Don’t look to other people for solutions and continue to look to God (see Psalm 121:1-2). One reason you’re burnt out is that you keep trying to carry everybody else’s problems. It’s one thing when you’re carrying children’s problems, but when you carry other grown-ups' stuff when they connect to the same thing that you connect to. You can’t keep allowing people to use you as their therapist, especially if they’re not paying you. When you learn how to make people respect your time and your ability, and you show up for them, they need to show you some appreciation. If you’re always listening to other people’s stuff, how can you deal with your stuff? Do you keep listening because you’re running from your stuff? You know your friendships are real when you can have honest conversations.
*You must recognize when God speaks to you. God will speak to you in a way that you don’t expect. One of the reasons you miss God is because you keep talking over his whispering. You expect God to speak through the same people, but he can speak through a stranger (see Hebrews 13:2). Don’t worry about who God uses as long as he speaks to you. What if God showed you a sign in a place you didn’t expect, but you knew it was exactly what you needed? Pay attention to the warning signs.
*If you want to figure out how to deal with your burnout, accept when God reconditions you in getting help in what you’re supposed to do. Sometimes God has your help on reserve, but he will not send you help until you’re at a place where you can handle the help. When you delegate, the delegation doesn’t have just one point, delegation has a range of things. You don’t delegate because you want things the way you like, but the problem is that delegation is not having things done the way you want them, rather it is having things done. As long as it gets done, there is no issue, and you can’t expect people to think the way you think and operate the way you operate. God will send you the help, but you must utilize the help given to you and not expect the help to do things the way you want them done, just as long as they have sufficiently done the job. You keep expecting people to do it like you, say it like you, move like you. In the beginning, you watch and see how they do the job and at times step in and criticize what they do, and they’re not doing anything wrong, they’re just not doing it with the approach you would do it. There’s more than one way to get to the solution.