Volume 08, Issue 15: Burn Out Equates to Proximity

While writing "Whatever God sees needs doing" the other week, it occurred to me that inviting God to do life with us equates to managing the demands of life like a pro. When we are obedient to God, he is there with us. He equips us and fights alongside us. With him, we win the battles because he does whatever he sees needs doing.

I talked about how expansive I find my job. What I didn't say is that in addition to that, I take on managing a home hands on, and taking care of growing children. Unlike most of my peers whose work end when they leave the office, I by choice, walk into other "jobs" when I leave the office. I put on multiple hats, including but not limited to chauffeur, cook, homework assistant, house organizer and planner. I know this is no big deal for my sisters in the US, but it is in Kenya, because unlike in the US, all inclusive domestic help is very affordable here. I, for some reason, not entirely known to me, but a factor of my makeup, prefer to limit domestic help to tasks around cleaning.

Listening to Pastor Sam Roberts of Life Church talk of how his job is overseeing 29 churches, and how the burden of that huge responsibility is light on him because of his proximity to God showed me that it's not about how expansive our roles are, but how we go about them. I now have a better understanding why I don't feel burdened by my load, and I am going to let you in on the secret in just a moment.

Jesus beckons us, "Take my yoke upon you. My yoke is easy, my burden is light." Like Pastor Sam, we could respond to that by saying, "God, how can you say that? I thought I was walking in step with you, I am doing everything I am supposed to do. How can you say that when you have given me all these responsibilities?"

I now understand better that if I experience burn out, it's not because of the extent of my responsibilities. My burn out has very little to do with the amount of work I am having to do at any given moment. It has to do with my proximity to Christ.

We read in the fortieth chapter of the book of Isaiah that God energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles. they run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind. How about that?

Our proximity to Christ will determine and guide our steps throughout the day, where even though the responsibilities are great, the burden becomes lighter because we feel we are walking in step with him, and he is giving us the wisdom and the things we need in order to be effective.

Walking in proximity to Christ is nothing magical. It is waiting on God, which is spending time with God, doing those basic things of our faith walk, pursuing a relationship with Christ. When we do this, we are taking God's yoke upon us, walking in step with him, and we don't burn out.

We will most certainly experience burn out if we do life foolishly, doing what only God can do, taking on more than we should, going on without rest. Even with a lot of responsibilities, God doesn't require us to work all the time. To stay clear of burn out, wisdom calls for taking all the help we need, committing to a good night's rest every night, a sabbath rest once every week, and extended breaks from all work every now and then.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi