We were together. I forget the rest. —Walt Whitman
What’s the secret to avoiding burnout? Stop trying to be Jesus.
You laugh, but it’s true. I was in ministry for more than 30 years. I’ve seen people work themselves to the bone. They pour themselves out past empty and then turn themselves inside out. They do it all for Jesus. They do it all for love. Their intentions are pure-hearted but their methodology is borderline self-harm.
If you want to avoid burnout, you’re going to have to let Jesus be Jesus—and that requires a great deal of surrender and dependence.
“This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain…” (Mark 4:26-28)
The Kingdom of God is like this:
- God grows it.
- God produces it.
- God knows how it works.
The Kingdom of God is like this: You don’t have to kill yourself to make sure it lasts. You are able to abide in the Lord and scatter where He tells you to scatter, plant where He tells you to plant, and—this is amazing—rest at regular intervals in between.
If the indwelling is the Spirit’s resting in you, then dependence is you resting in the Spirit.
Lord, I will abide in You as You abide in me.