In my last post, we looked at the causes of Spiritual burnout. In this post, I want to show you something Jesus said in Matthew 11:28–30, where we will find the remedy—or the prevention—for spiritual burn-out (if we would only follow it).
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). First of all, we must come to Jesus. Remember, the cause of burn out is being emptied of your fuel. One of the reasons we are emptied is because we are trying to get through life on our own resources. We might go to a church self-help course or count on a fellow church member to give us encouragement. Yet, shortly after, we’ll need more just to get by. The truth is that we cannot rely on our own resources or anyone else’s. Our resources are not enough—we need something greater. Of course, there is good news: if you are weary and burdened (or burned out) Jesus can give you rest! Jesus can restore you. Only He can light the flame again!
But here’s the better news: Jesus can keep you from becoming burned out in the first place. He can give you living water and keep the flame alive (see John 4:13, 14). Of course, you have to come to Him. Unless you spend time with Him daily you will find yourself empty. Not surprisingly, the easiest prevention of spiritual dryness is to be constantly plugged into the source of Life. So come plug in. Spend more time with Him. Come to Him with your empty resources and let Him fill you up.
Next, Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” Matthew 11:29). Verse 30 says that his “yoke is easy and his burden is light.” The next part of the remedy is to give up on our burden and take his. This is a trade. If you are still carrying your burdens, you have never taken on his. So, what is Jesus’ burden? And how can a “burden” be easy?
There are different ideas of what Jesus’ burden may have been, but I believe all ideas of his burden could be summed up in his mission. And that mission is spelled out in Luke 19:10—“The Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost.” Sure, you could say that the cross was his burden, but it was his mission of salvation that led him there—and held him there. Jesus had one thing on his heart every day—one burden, one yoke: the salvation of mankind. So Jesus is asking us to take this burden in place of our own. His was a burden of the Gospel; a burden of pleasing His Father. He’s calling us to take on his burden of service and sacrifice—a burden of grace.
Now catch this, because this is what makes His burden easier than our own: if we focus on the burden of the Gospel and following God’s calling we will focus on others, which means we will have less time to focus on ourselves. The guilt of our sins was carried on the cross. The Gospel frees you from its burden. “Burdens are lifted at calvary!” If we are continually presenting the beauty of the Gospel, how can we not remind ourselves of this?
In addition, when we are carrying His burden—which was God’s mission for Him, and He passed to us (Matt 28:18–20)—we focus on pleasing God. Believe me, pleasing God is MUCH easier than pleasing man. God never asks us to do something we do not have the ability to do with His help. Furthermore, for everything God requires of you, He also provides everything necessary, even help, to complete it. Try finding a person or a church that is like that! Good luck!
The third and final part of the remedy is also in verse 29: Learn from me. This doesn’t say learn about Him, but learn from Him. Walk and talk with Him, sit at his feet, and follow Him. You see, Jesus’ teachings can keep us from becoming burdened. What does He want us to learn? Many things, no doubt, but there are two specific things He points out about Himself: that He is gentle and humble in heart. If we want a peace the world doesn’t understand, then we need to be different from the world. We need to be gentle, not forceful; humble, not proud. In these there is no rest. There is no peace. Gentleness and humbleness are important. These are the two characteristics we will need to carry His burden. These are the padded shoulder straps that make His burden easier and lighter. And since these don’t come naturally in our sinful state, we need to learn them from Him.
So there it is, the remedy for Spiritual burnout. It may not be what you were expecting, but it truly works. So, how are you spiritually? How’s your heart? Have you found yourself at a plateau? Are you missing a spark you once had? It doesn’t matter what it was that might have caused you to dry out. If you feel the passion is gone, and it’s hard to keep on fire for God, then listen to Jesus’ invitation! He says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37b, 38).
For all of you that are weary and burned out Jesus is calling you to come and be refilled. He’s calling some of you to learn from him, calling some of you to serve, calling some of you to sacrifice, and He’s calling all of you to come.