When an electrical circuit in your home gets overloaded, what happens? A fuse is blown, or a circuit breaker is thrown. The load is more than the circuit was designed to carry. The same thing happens in humans. When it happens in an office, or a classroom, or in a home, the stress overload leads to that we call “burnout.”
Burnout is a serious problem in our fast-paced world. It affects all of us in one way or another. Catalogues and brochures from publishing houses all advertise countless books on the “burnout syndrome.” Businessmen are burning out on their jobs. Housewives are burning out in the home. Single parents leaving home, trying to walk away from it all, trying to escape, sometimes find it much worse on the streets than the situation they left behind.
Often Christians do not do much better than the rest of the world when it comes to dealing with life’s pressures and problems – and this includes Christian ministers. When it happens, it is because we have forgotten these words of Jesus, “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). The real issue comes down to pressures or priorities – your life will be dominated by one or these two factors.
When we properly define our priorities, life goes more smoothly and pressures are lessened. When we put God first in our lives, we are beginning with a spiritual priority which says that those things which help us grow in our daily walk with God are most important: worship, family togetherness, physical and emotional health, a positive outlook on life. When our priorities are wrong, we sacrifice all of these for that which has little or no lasting value – and we live to satisfy those unrelenting pressures that can never be satisfied anyway. So, how can we learn to endure life’s pressures?
First, we must know WHO we are (IDENTITY). Too many people today want to be someone they aren’t – “”If I could be like him (or her)”, people often say, wishing they were better looking, happier, smarter, or wealthier. We think being like somebody else will make us happier – but it won’t! It never has! It never will! We can only be truly happy when we accept ourselves for the person we were created to be in Christ.
Second, we must know WHOSE we are (RELATIONSHIP). The Bible classifies people into two groups: those who are saved, and those who are lost. We tend to classify ourselves by race, nationality, locality, socioeconomic status, white collar or blue collar, etc. The Bible says there two roads into eternity: one leads to destruction; one leads to life eternal. The Bible says there are only two foundations: one is on the solid rock; one is on shifting sand. If you are going to overcome discouragement, you must know to whom you belong. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Those who accept and serve Jesus Christ know WHOSE they are.
Third, we must know WHOM we are trying to please (PURPOSE). A lot of stress comes our way when we try to please others: boss, husband, wife, kids, family, a friend, etc. Some people are difficult to please. If we know that our number one purpose in life is to serve Jesus Christ, all our other relationships will be more meaningful and productive.
Fourth, we must know WHERE we are going (DIRECTION). When it appears outwardly that we have failed, that the journey is too difficult, or that the road is too rough, it is good to remember where we are going. Pressures ease greatly when our purpose lies clearly before us and leads a heavenly home. Ella Wheeler Wilcox expressed it well:
- One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
‘Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go.
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