Someone asked me the other night what if your light burns out. It would be wonderful if a lightbulb never burned out, but that is not the case. After long use there will come a day when you flip the switch, there might be a flash and all will go dark. The bulb burned out. Off to the store you go to replace the bulb. Now you might say my last article was wrong, we are not like that. Stay with me and follow my thought.
Say you had a full time job, but the finances were tight and you needed another job. You find a job that you could work at night, because you were already working all day, sometimes ten hours. You take the job feeling assured you can handle it. You start the journey of a workaholic. By the way that is not your whole schedule. You don't want to forget about your family. You also need to carve out time for church. A couple of weeks have passed and you're feeling good about yourself, you have everything under control. After a few more weeks it starts to creep up on you. The tiredness starts to slither into your soul. Time for church and family suffer. You are getting robbed of your sleep, because you worry about the example you are giving your family, because you find every excuse possible not to go to church so you can rest. Finally, you stop the excuses and just say I'm not going. .and that is that. You are burned out. Your lightbulb has burned out.
Some of you might be smiling saying that won't happen to me because I'm not married. Well consider this. You live in a different town then your family. You have found a good job and a great church that keeps you busy. The mindset of some people are; you are single you should do everything and go to everything. Everything goes along fine until. Will you do this, will you do that and before too long you have every night full and every day full. It is like working two full time jobs. Then you go see your family whenever you can fit it in. A member of your family becomes ill and the struggle begins. Every moment is taken your stress level has increased and again sleep is slithering away. What do you do? I can assure you that no matter what you do some people won't understand.
Therefore, in both situations you must take a deep breath and see what God wants you to do. When Jesus walked on this earth he took time away from everyone, even his disciples that he was training to call on God for guidance. He had to have time to rest even in the midst of a storm. (Matthew 8: 23-25) He was in the boat sound asleep when the storm came. The disciples became afraid. They woke him and said "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" He calmed the storm and the disciples. During Jesus' ministry he healed many people and performed many miracles. But he withdrew to be alone from time to time. He needed to refresh himself so he could talk to his Father, but I also think, he could better minister to the people. He was like us and I believe he needed rest for his body, soul and mind. I'm not sure if he could have suffered from burn out but since he was fully human, it sure is possible.
I know that God expects us to work for Him, reaching everyone we can, because time is short, but He also expects us to take care of ourselves. If you feel your light dimming, maybe you should take some time to refresh yourself, draw away for a short recoup, take a deep breath and allow God to help you figure out your next steps. Whatever you do, don't let your light totally go out. Keep on, keeping on. May God help you to keep your light burning bright.
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