Burn-out is a word with which many people today are familiar. It has, unfortunately, become too common a word for us. It taunts us: a society of people on the verge, or in the midst, of burnout—and we don’t always see it coming.
I find it interesting that this phrase is used when battling uncontrollable fires. They start a “burn off” fire in opposition to a raging grass or forest fires in order to burn up the remaining fuel, in turn causing the raging blaze to go out. This term has been adopted into the rest of our lives because burnout is what happens when you use up all your resources, or fuel, and are left empty. In fact, the original meaning of the word burn-out is “to stop producing a flame.”
Maybe you are feeling burned out in areas of your life right now. The biggest tell-tale sign: emotional exhaustion. It is not the same as being stressed, but rather being drained. You see, burnout is not the same as stress. We often mix up these two. Stress can, at times, lead to a burnout, but it is not burnout. Stress is about things being “too much,” and burnout is about “not enough.” If stress can make you feel like you are drowning in a situation, then burnout will make you feel parched. Because of this, like stress, burnout can cause you to lose your perspective on things. It can cause you to lose your passion. It can cause you to stop producing a flame. Hmm.
I wonder: can we end up using all of our spiritual resources until we find ourselves spiritually empty? Are we in danger of losing our flame? I believe, unfortunately, that we are. In fact, we are in more danger of this than ever before. Spiritual Burnout is one of the greatest threats that face us today. We need God’s help. We need it now.
Before we can overcome it, though, we must learn what causes it. I have found that there are two main things that burden us spiritually; two things which quickly lead to spiritual burn out (there are many things that can burden us, but I believe that the following two situations are a foundation to all the others).
The first cause of burn-out is that we can be overly burdened by personal guilt—or our own unrealistic expectations for ourselves. Notice what David says in Psalm 38:4—“My guilt [iniquities] has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” As long as we think we are not forgiven, or can’t be, the heaviness placed upon us is too much to bear. By focusing on our own sins and struggles, rather than on God, we take on a burden that can drain us spiritually. As we struggle to fight the quick-sand battle of “being better,” we may ultimately find ourselves without any spark of passion left for God.
Next, in Numbers 11:11–14, we find Moses struggling. He basically tells God, “These people are putting burdens on me that are too heavy to bear.” So the second foundational cause is that we can be burdened by the requirements put on us by those around us. The expectations of others are often impossible to fulfill. Of course, too frequently, the expectations we have for others, or they have for us, are greater than even God requires. Thus, we can work hard to meet man’s requirements only to find our selves dried up spiritually.
So in essence, our spiritual burdens boil down to these two things: focusing on ourselves and trying to fulfill man’s requirements. These are “flame killers.” If we are doing either of these we are headed for serious burnout (if we’re not already there).
Of course, just because you may be spiritually and emotionally spent, feeling less passionate about the things of God, or just “running on empty,” you must not assume that there’s no hope. There’s always hope when it comes to God.
In my next post, we’ll read about this hope—we’ll find the cure.