Rest for the Weary

The road to spiritual burnout winds and twists through our busy lives and leads us to a place we didn’t even realize we were headed. You can quote me on that.

Spiritual burnout may be a relatively new term but it certainly isn’t a new situation. The Bible is chocked full of godly people, the movers and shakers in their day that desired nothing more than to honor God with their lives and their work; yet, just as today, burnout plagues well-intended people. When you are doing more and enjoying it less, take note, Friend, because burnout may be lingering around the next corner just waiting to strike.

There is a passage in one of my favorite books by Gordon MacDonald that addresses this:

‘In the deep jungles of Africa, a traveler was making a long trek. Natives had been engaged from a tribe to carry the loads. The first day they marched rapidly and went far. The traveler had high hopes of a speedy journey. But the second morning these jungle tribesmen refused to move. For some strange reason they just sat and rested. On inquiry as to the reason for this strange behavior, the traveler was informed that they had gone too fast the first day, and that they were now waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies. (From Springs in the Valley by Mrs. Lettie Cowman)

Mrs. Cowman concluded that story by saying: This whirling rushing life which so many of us live does for us what that first march did for those poor jungle tribesmen. The difference: they knew what they needed to restore life’s balance; too often we do not.’

My favorite line in that story is that they were now waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies. Oh, my! Haven’t we all been there, done that too many times? Rare is the person in today’s hectic world that truly takes time to rest the way God intended when He proclaimed a day of rest. Sabbath rest was created FOR us. God knew our minds, bodies and spirits would need it. Mosaic Law dictated the day of rest and Jesus showed us that it can be carried to the extreme; but let’s not lose sight of the fact that God rested and knew we needed rest – recuperative, renewing deep rest..

Many Christians suffer burnout because they stay so busy, running and planning and making things happen that they neglect their souls and abuse their bodies. Christians, do not be deceived; busyness ‘doing things’ in service of the Lord is not the same as time with the Lord. We must learn to ‘step into the boat and push away from the shore’ as Jesus did when He knew His disciples needed rest after returning from the missionary outings He sent them on. Just as most pastors take Monday off after ministering on Sundays, they needed time to restore, refresh and refill their own spiritual wells before they would be able to pour out again.

Physical rest plays a large part in spiritual burnout. Physical work can bring about a ‘good tired’. Too much physical work, without proper rest and nourishment, can bring on a state of exhaustion that defies all efforts to maintain spiritual balance. Emotional highs and lows do as well. We can get just as tired and exhausted from a really wonderful event as we can a dreaded one. We may not realize it at the time but the stress on our bodies is the same. What feels like a surge of energy at the height of emotion is just that; energy expended has to be replaced whether it’s spent on happy things or sad ones.

My husband and I are very blessed with a large family we love a great deal. It’s wonderful to be able to support the grandkids in their endeavors and nothing fills us with more satisfaction than time with the family. At the same time, we are blessed to have a wonderful church family and a great deal of our time is structured around that, as well. If we are to be beneficial to our biological and church families we must ‘step into the boat and push away from the shore’ once and awhile. We don’t do this often enough. We both have good habits of time spent in Bible study, prayer, reading Christian books and seeking God but it is the time of spiritual rest we need to allow us to be useful servants to God and everyone else.

With the holiday season in full swing this is perhaps the hardest time of the year to find time you feel you can lay aside for spiritual rest and yet it is the time you need it the most. Once burnout is in full swing you will not, can not enjoy the holidays anyway because stress will rule your emotions and clothe you in frustration. So, my prayer is that you ‘step into the boat and push away from the shore’ so you can wait for your ‘soul to catch up with your body.’