Be on fire for the Lord but don't burn out

By Raly Ewemie

The Lord Admonishing Me

My Spiritual daughter, a lady I mentor, sent me a message asking for prayers on behalf of another spiritual daughter of mine who was not doing great at the moment. When I got the message I said to myself, “No, please! I can’t deal with another need again, I just need some rest for myself.”

Immediately the Lord corrected me, saying, “Raly, she is not asking you to solve the problem, she is simply asking you to bring the problem to Me in prayer and allow Me step in. Stop acting like you are the Holy Spirit. It does not suit you; you can not and never will have that role. Raly, you are not the Holy Spirit, you are not her Savior.

Whoa! Sorry Lord. Please forgive me. Sometimes I find myself acting like I am the Holy Spirit. However, the fact that I have a close relationship with him and we both work together does not make me Him. I have found that when I take up His role, I get over-extended, over-committed and I become depressed, short-tempered, angry, and worn out.

Burnout Everywhere

Being in ministry can drain us physically, emotionally and spiritually. We find ourselves engaging, giving, and pouring ourselves out in our various ministries, bearing and carrying the burdens of many, striving to meet their physical, spiritual or emotional needs. We find ourselves coming to a point where we are running on empty. We have nothing more to give and we end up emotionally, physically, socially, and spiritually exhausted and empty; this is what we call BURNOUT.

Burnout is found everywhere. It is common in secular jobs, ministries, family relationships, just about anywhere people interact. We find ourselves over-committed, over-extended, and overwhelmed because we do not have the discipline to use our no’s and yes’s rightly, the wisdom to discern when to say yes and when to say no. We seek to please men, to serve money, taking upon ourselves the role of a savior or the Holy Spirit rather than allowing God to be God and us to be us.

We seek to be slaves to the tyranny or deception of the more busy you are the more successful you become. Sometimes I fall into the temptations of seeing every need as my call and jumpin to meet the needs rather than seeking the face of God for wisdom and direction. There are just some tasks, projects or battles where God will instruct us to stand and be still. Sometimes He instructs us to just pray and other times we are not even meant to give heed to such need.
Moses and Jethro
Sometimes we ourselves are unable to see our taking over the role of God. My younger sister once said to me, ”Should you carry the burden of everyone on your head?” Little did I know she was being a ‘Jethro’ to me.
Jethro, Moses’ father in-law, called Moses aside when he noticed Moses was trying to be macho-man at the expenses of his soul and body well being.

He said and I paraphrase: “Listen Moses, I know you are a hard worker and love this people and want to do the best you can for the glory of the God of Israel, but if you keep acting like this wanting to please everyone and attend to the needs of all, then I promise you that you will drop dead soon.

Your Lord God will not be pleased by your so-called actions for His glory.

The needs of this people will draw you closer to destruction if you do not learn to be wise in delegating responsibilities, so you can have time for your relationship with your God and for your soul and body well being.” (Exodus 18:17-24)

Praise God, Moses listened.

God and Rest

It is recorded that on the seventh day, God rested. (Genesis 2:2) Many ignore this great and important truth and action. So sad that many are just so, so busy. If you check them out, they might look successful on the outside but inside, they may be quite damaged and consequently have lost the essence of life.

Rest is so very powerful and highly needed for our effectiveness and fulfillment here on earth. “In stillness and quiet shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15

Pull away from the noise and the crowd. Go on silent retreats. Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for men and not men for the Sabbath” (Matthew 2:27) The stronghold or grip of burnout will be powerless over our life when we enter into God’s rest. Even Jesus needed to rest and pray.

Mary and Martha

May the Lord help us to know when to be a Mary and when to be a Martha, when to work and when to rest before the Lord.

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:38-42

We have lots of Martha’s in the social place, ministries, and homes who make unnecessary sacrifices of rest, relaxation, recreation and neglecting the care of their souls, minds, and bodies. As friends of Jesus, let us heed His direction as did His disciples when He said, “Let us go somewhere else.” (Mark1:35-38)

Connecting To God

Jesus said, “I only do what I see My Father do.” (John 5:19-20) Lord what are you doing today? Help me to embrace what you are doing.

Take your schedule before the Lord. Invest in the well being of your Soul, relying on the Person and power of the Holy Spirit to help you fulfill the task as you co-operate with Him. Once again, to those who find fulfillment and a sense of worth from being busy, snap out of that great deception from the camp of hell.

Your identity and fulfillment lies not in what you do, but rather in who you are becoming through your relationship with Jesus. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Jesus’ burden is light when we know what He wants us to do and not going beyond the limits He has set.
It is so important we also learn to seek help. Do not be a lone ranger. God has placed some people (one or two) in our life who we can be accountable to.

Be imitators of your Father who declared the seventh day as the day of rest and also rested Himself.

It will be so sad, if we die before our set time because we lack the wisdom of rest. Sadly many have passed away untimely. Many have missed the mark and diverted from the calling because they sought to be the Holy Spirit. I once heard this saying, “There is nothing spiritual about burning out for Jesus.

Jesus is more interested in our relationship with him than in our work for Him.” My prayer is that we will know the power, wisdom and gift found in resting in the Lord. Amen.

Raly Ewemie is a devoted Missionary - with over a decade work experience in different countries across the globe. She’s the brain behind www.reflectinghisbeauty.org, a website that enriches people with Godly values and supports Missionaries in their work for God. She’s based in Abbotsford BC, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]