Burn Out

Meditation
Isaiah 40:27-31— Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God.”Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
​

I believe the secret to maintaining spiritual strength is contained in the Bible.  
1.  The Hebrew word, yaga, (yaw gah`) and variations thereof, appears thirty-one times in the Old Testament.  Yaga means to be weary, worn out or exhausted. The prophet, Isaiah, gives us great word pictures in the passage above of what it is like for those whose energy is replenished by their hope in God.   From the context of the passage established in verse 27, is it possible that Isaiah is primarily referring to overcoming spiritual discouragement?  

2.  The author of Hebrews writes in 12:3, “Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”  If we want to maintain spiritual vitality we are to consider Jesus.  The Greek word translated as consider is the word, analogizomai, from which we get the word analogy. Essentially we should “fix our eyes on Jesus” (vs. 2), because He provides us a likeness of perseverance. What did Christ consistently do during His life on earth?  He looked to God for His strength and direction.  All His hope was in His Father and that was enough to take Him past the cross!

With one exception, if you are burnt out, your eyes cannot be on Christ.*  If you are spiritually washed up your hope is not in the Lord.  Every Christian I have ever encountered that is worn out and therefore unwilling to serve God is:
1)    Unable to get over disappointment and hurt caused by a person(s).  
2)  Bitter (God-blaming) for failing to achieve results they expected in some venture (mission effort, job, etc.)
3)    *Sidelined by depression caused by a chemical imbalance. 

​In the first two cases, note that the cause of weariness was taking one’s eyes off the Lord and fastening them on people or expectations.  Let’s be honest!  People will fail us just as we as people have failed.  Second, we don’t always achieve our goals.  This does not give us license to sit on the bench and pout!  Is God more concerned that we attain success or that we keep our hope in Him?  Both Isaiah and Hebrews teach us that the key to overcoming weariness is to keep our eyes (trust) on God!  So look to the Lord and be renewed! He’s eager to strengthen you and that’s something to think about . . . in reveration!  
 
Inspiration
If you are serving men for their sakes you will soon have the heart knocked out of you; but if you are personally and passionately devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ, then you can spend yourselves to the last ebb because your motive is love to the Lord.—Oswald Chambers in The Place of Help
 
©2004Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)