Working without Wilting

Working without Wilting

Would you say that you have a passion for working with people? It might be a particular group or just people in general.  Is there a huge part of you that is drawn to either helping those in need or making a difference in their lives and be encouraging if you’re given the opportunity? Does it just come naturally to you to help or go the extra mile? Do you find fulfilment and satisfaction in giving a lot of yourself unconditionally? With that said have you found yourself in a situation where you are not getting spiritual food you need to last you the day?

I will rest when I die

Well if you said yes to most of these then you may also be familiar with the long hours, burning out and frustration that comes with it. This is mostly common when it’s related to your passion for people. It’s almost like saying “I will rest when I die”!

This is written from my personal experience and how others and most importantly the Bible has taught and helped me to be able to work with my passion for people without wilting.

It Gets Frustrating

First of all let me start with pointing out some areas that frustration might arise. They can be and not exclusive to: not having enough time for family and friends, not enough personal time for growth, rest and recharge (input: such as reading the Bible, books, etc). Don’t have a job, time for education, and a lack of personal discipline.

Now you may be wondering “how can I be able to do what I am passionate about and avoid frustration or at best manage and minimize frustration”?

Value who we are in Christ

So many of us don’t understand that we are valuable to God, we don’t behave as people who are worthy of God’s love. John 3:16 gives us that confidence that we are valuable and loved.

Loving God and Others as our neighbours

After accepting that we are valued by God, we can then love him according to Mark 12:30-34 and we can love others because we understand what love is. Have you been so busy catering for the needs of others and yet your needs are not being met? 3John 1:2 shows that that isn’t the health intended for us. Is it so much more about others and never ever about you? Well Mark 12:31 says differently, after reading that, can you ever love others if you don’t love yourself?

Practice What We Preach or Teach

How is it that we give others advice about spending time in the word, recommending books and all sorts but we ourselves don’t make time for that. Well if we know that we are valued sons and daughters then we know that spending time reading the Bible individually is vital to our daily lives. Whatever we are doing we need to make sure we are in good health and of sound mind before we help others do the same. I found that I didn’t have this revelation and that it starts with me not others.

Getting Our Priorities Right

Ultimately it all starts with Christ first, then us, then others. Valuing yourself means that we give ourselves what we need as a priority. This may include: reading the right books, going to conferences, church, talking to people who are further on in their walk than us and most importantly spending time in the word of God. Giving yourself what you need before attending to others will prevent you burning out because you will know when you are running on empty and go fill up on: rest, devotion and therefore recharging. Sometimes as people we might think just leaving something all together is the solution, but really it’s not dealing with the issue (it may be necessary for certain situations) but if you have reached this point, you may need to take (request) some time off, go somewhere different that allows you to relax and review the situation. I realised this after speaking to a couple who are spiritually mature than I am and have lived far more years than myself, they helped me to see that prioritising is best.

Discerning when to say Yes or No

Saying yes to everything and not exercising when to say no is dangerous.

Think about it this way, saying yes all the time is not exercising self control which is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit that every believer has; Galatians 5:22-23. It is a seed that we have to water, being in situations where we want to say yes but knowing that saying yes means you won’t have that time with God and that is really valuable to your soul to spend time with God you say no (depending on the situation you will need wisdom) Proverbs 25:28 (The Living Bible). Also the book “Boundaries by Ds. Henry Cloud & John Townsend” I hear has helped a lot of people which is on my list to read.

Discipline Ourselves

Without self-control you are defenceless, you open yourself up to a lot of problems. When it comes to time management, in order to do all we need to do in a day or a set period of time we need to focus on our priorities and leave what we can’t do for the next day. It is the ability to say no to certain things and yes to the right things, all in its right time. There is a time for everything that includes rest, input, output (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Knowing that there is a season for everything, and you are not created to give every minute of your life to the point that you burn out. In Genesis 2:2 the almighty God rests, even though God doesn’t physically or mentally need rest (Psalm 121:4) but he knows that we do. Personally I think that he rested to set an example for us and let us know that in doing all our day to day service to him we still need to be disciplined enough to stop and rest. So if the Lord of Hosts can rest then how about us?

Always check with God

So often we dive into the different kinds of ministries in church, and it is fantastic that we do. However we are all on a journey some further along than others but we all have so much to learn. So when it reaches a place where you are frustrated, losing your passion, drained, and burnt out that you just don’t want anything to do with that ministry anymore clearly there is something not right. Those are the times we check with God even more so as we should be acknowledging Him in all we do Proverbs 3:6 and to see if our season or time is up or if we should just preserve (rest and refill). That is because serving God is a joy especially when he has put that ministry on our hearts. God knows that life is not straightforward so he has put in his word everything we need to make it through those situations.

In conclusion

It isn’t right to expect those around us to be the ones to monitor and ensure we don’t burn out. Yes there are times when we are privileged enough to have those people who will look out for us but we are called to serve the Lord as individuals in as much as we are corporately. It is up to us to ensure that we know our value in Christ, loving God and others as our neighbours. Being examples and practice what we preach or teach. Making sure we know and get our priorities right and thus enabling us to discern when to say Yes or No. Deep down in our hearts and minds we must know that personal discipline is fundamentally important. Be sure that our passion is effective and constantly checking with God in all we do. The word of God which gives us wisdom, and is there to equip us for any task that is set before us by God, so that we don’t burn out or experience certain things from lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6), understanding/wisdom. Let us be a people who seek out wisdom Proverbs 8:12.  

God Bless and have a great day

Author - Jireh Kang’Ombe