“90% of the people entering ministry DO NOT RETIRE from ministry, they either quit or have some sort of moral/ethical failure that disqualifies them.” – Perry Noble
What a staggering number, 90%! That 90% number is for those who work in ministry as their vocation but I believe this statistic is just as important for people who are volunteering at a church, or a ministry, in any capacity. We are not only giving our time on a specific day/night of the week but also working or going to school full or part time. We all have a lot on our plates when we are serving God so it is important that we do not fall into that percentage of people who quit or have a major moral failure along the way. In other words Burnout!!!!
The word burnout means “the reduction of a fuel or substance to nothing through use or combustion.” It can also mean “physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress.” Both definitions are applicable when it comes to ministry burnout
Have you ever gotten tired of ministry I don't mean ministering; I mean going from this meeting to that meeting, this program to that program, visiting this person then that person, answering the phone in the middle of dinner, answering the phone in the middle of the night, getting a phone call on vacation, etc., etc., etc. There seems to be no time for yourself or your family.
I’m going through one of those seasons now and I’m wondering if I’m getting close to burning out. I’ve watched others burnout in the workplace and it is quite often not a pretty picture. My wife burned the candle at both ends when she worked in a management position at a hospital. She had a nervous breakdown and was never able to work again. I don’t want that to happen to me or you especially while working in ministry
A little personal background. I retired from the workforce three years ago after working in very stressful environments for more than 50 years. When I retired and started working part time in ministry in addition to the volunteering I've done throughout the years, I thought that it would be a situation where I would work a few hours, when I wanted to and still be able to volunteer in other ministries, outside my own church. Although I knew that ministry, especially when you have the responsibility of providing spiritual guidance along with administrative responsibilities, would sometimes be stressful I thought that I would be able to “turn it off” when the stress level went up.
What a surprise!
Because you are retired, just chilling (they think) not “on the clock” and not working full-time many people think that you have time to do things that they want or need at the “drop of a hat”’. Whenever you want to say “No, I’m tired” or “No, I just don't want to do it”, you get guilty and start thinking “you chose to be in ministry” or “you chose to volunteer, as a minister or volunteer, you are a servant and that means to serve, no matter what”. Even if that service is detrimental to you and your family. You might even try to justify it by saying that “Satan never takes time off”. When you start thinking like this you are in danger of burnout which can quickly become depression.
This is from the book Overwhelmed: Winning The War Against Worry by Perry Noble;
A godly friend confronted me about this when I was searching for a way out of my darkness. “Your pace is unsustainable,” he told me. “You are going way too fast.”
Depressed people often become angry with those who point out the obvious places they need to make adjustments. Honestly, I didn’t want to make adjustments. I didn’t want to change. I thought everyone else around me needed to change. I needed a pill. I needed a prayer. I needed someone to understand.
I remember telling my friend, “The devil never takes a day off!” “Perry,” he replied, “I’m not sure the devil is supposed to be your example!”
During those busy years, I hated to hear the word rest. I didn’t even want to talk about it, although I had trouble avoiding the topic when I studied Scripture—specifically the Ten Commandments. It was hard to get past the fact that the one God spent the most time explaining was the one on rest.
Finally my counselor told me, “The Bible calls those who will not work lazy, but it calls those who will not rest disobedient.”
Almost all of us have too many things to do in a given day—go to meetings, get the kids to practice, prepare meals, and check our phones twenty times per hour. However, along the way I’ve learned the importance of saying no sometimes.
We’ll never escape the black hole of being busy if we allow everyone else’s demands to determine our schedules.
I don’t want that to happen to me and I don’t want it to happen to you so I decided to take some time to look at the reasons that those of us involved in Christian ministry burnout. I’ve looked at resources from people who counsel those in ministry to identify the signs of burnout, and then steps of prevention and recovery. I’m sharing that information with you so that you don't burnout and if you do, how to recover.
What a staggering number, 90%! That 90% number is for those who work in ministry as their vocation but I believe this statistic is just as important for people who are volunteering at a church, or a ministry, in any capacity. We are not only giving our time on a specific day/night of the week but also working or going to school full or part time. We all have a lot on our plates when we are serving God so it is important that we do not fall into that percentage of people who quit or have a major moral failure along the way. In other words Burnout!!!!
The word burnout means “the reduction of a fuel or substance to nothing through use or combustion.” It can also mean “physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress.” Both definitions are applicable when it comes to ministry burnout
Have you ever gotten tired of ministry I don't mean ministering; I mean going from this meeting to that meeting, this program to that program, visiting this person then that person, answering the phone in the middle of dinner, answering the phone in the middle of the night, getting a phone call on vacation, etc., etc., etc. There seems to be no time for yourself or your family.
I’m going through one of those seasons now and I’m wondering if I’m getting close to burning out. I’ve watched others burnout in the workplace and it is quite often not a pretty picture. My wife burned the candle at both ends when she worked in a management position at a hospital. She had a nervous breakdown and was never able to work again. I don’t want that to happen to me or you especially while working in ministry
A little personal background. I retired from the workforce three years ago after working in very stressful environments for more than 50 years. When I retired and started working part time in ministry in addition to the volunteering I've done throughout the years, I thought that it would be a situation where I would work a few hours, when I wanted to and still be able to volunteer in other ministries, outside my own church. Although I knew that ministry, especially when you have the responsibility of providing spiritual guidance along with administrative responsibilities, would sometimes be stressful I thought that I would be able to “turn it off” when the stress level went up.
What a surprise!
Because you are retired, just chilling (they think) not “on the clock” and not working full-time many people think that you have time to do things that they want or need at the “drop of a hat”’. Whenever you want to say “No, I’m tired” or “No, I just don't want to do it”, you get guilty and start thinking “you chose to be in ministry” or “you chose to volunteer, as a minister or volunteer, you are a servant and that means to serve, no matter what”. Even if that service is detrimental to you and your family. You might even try to justify it by saying that “Satan never takes time off”. When you start thinking like this you are in danger of burnout which can quickly become depression.
This is from the book Overwhelmed: Winning The War Against Worry by Perry Noble;
A godly friend confronted me about this when I was searching for a way out of my darkness. “Your pace is unsustainable,” he told me. “You are going way too fast.”
Depressed people often become angry with those who point out the obvious places they need to make adjustments. Honestly, I didn’t want to make adjustments. I didn’t want to change. I thought everyone else around me needed to change. I needed a pill. I needed a prayer. I needed someone to understand.
I remember telling my friend, “The devil never takes a day off!” “Perry,” he replied, “I’m not sure the devil is supposed to be your example!”
During those busy years, I hated to hear the word rest. I didn’t even want to talk about it, although I had trouble avoiding the topic when I studied Scripture—specifically the Ten Commandments. It was hard to get past the fact that the one God spent the most time explaining was the one on rest.
Finally my counselor told me, “The Bible calls those who will not work lazy, but it calls those who will not rest disobedient.”
Almost all of us have too many things to do in a given day—go to meetings, get the kids to practice, prepare meals, and check our phones twenty times per hour. However, along the way I’ve learned the importance of saying no sometimes.
We’ll never escape the black hole of being busy if we allow everyone else’s demands to determine our schedules.
I don’t want that to happen to me and I don’t want it to happen to you so I decided to take some time to look at the reasons that those of us involved in Christian ministry burnout. I’ve looked at resources from people who counsel those in ministry to identify the signs of burnout, and then steps of prevention and recovery. I’m sharing that information with you so that you don't burnout and if you do, how to recover.
Five Signs You Are Heading Towards A Burnout
Ministry can be all-consuming. A true spiritual ministry does not exist for the benefit of the ones ministering. It is a call of God to continually give of oneself—to invest time, resources, and energy in work that often has only heavenly reward.
Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward. - Mark 9:41 NIV
Types of Burnout
Burnout can be experienced in a variety of ways. Because our bodies, souls, minds, and spirits are integrated parts of a greater whole, the following types of burnout often come together and have a compounding effect on each other:
Five Signs You Are Heading Towards A Burnout
Ministry can be all-consuming. A true spiritual ministry does not exist for the benefit of the ones ministering. It is a call of God to continually give of oneself—to invest time, resources, and energy in work that often has only heavenly reward.
Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward. - Mark 9:41 NIV
- You are beginning to despise people and your compassion for them is decreasing instead of increasing.
- You continually tell yourself and loved ones that “this is just a really busy season and that you will slow down soon”. (However, the truth is that you have been singing that song for years.)
- You begin to make easy decisions instead of the right ones… because the right ones take too much work!
- You cannot remember the last time you simply had fun with your friends and family… and joy is something you talk about but are not experiencing for yourself!
- You are experiencing unexplained stress, depression and/or anxiety. You may even be having panic attacks.
Types of Burnout
Burnout can be experienced in a variety of ways. Because our bodies, souls, minds, and spirits are integrated parts of a greater whole, the following types of burnout often come together and have a compounding effect on each other:
- Physical burnout can be triggered by a lack of exercise, physical effects of stress and sleeplessness. The overloaded schedule and stressful lives cause you forget to exercise, you eat unhealthy foods, and sleep less. If left unchecked, physical burnout can cause a weakened immune system, aches and pains, a change in appetite, and feeling tired all the time.
- Relational burnout is related to emotional burnout and can be caused by strained relationships. Constant interactions with energy draining people make you unusually susceptible for this type of burnout. Physical exhaustion and drama between between others can make you isolate yourself to get a break from relationships that drain your energy.
- Emotional burnout can be felt when you feel like you don't have anyone you can go to when you are anxious, or stressed out. This type of burnout can wreak a family because of the feelings of isolation. Emotional burnout can numb your ability have normal emotions and have a sense of failure and self-doubt.
- Spiritual burnout happens when you neglect your own spiritual life while trying to pour into the lives of others. Many of us do not have anybody pouring into our lives and we do not seek the life and strength of God for spiritual refreshment. If you don’t spend time with God through prayer or Scripture reading, you may be suffering from spiritual burnout!
How Do You Avoid Ministry Burnout?
Ask yourself these questions:
1. “Do I know for certain that God called me to this ministry?” One of the big reasons for burnout is that you just don't fit that particular ministry. Sometimes, enthusiasm or a perceived need causes people to jump into something for which they're not suited. People often take on ministries that God has not gifted them to fulfill.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? - 1 Corinthians 12:27-30 NIV
Lack of accomplishment and dwindling enthusiasm can bring on great discouragement and even depression. Burnout victims may feel God is disappointed with them or that they have failed, when in reality, this particular ministry was not God’s plan for them.
2. “Where am I getting my strength to serve in this ministry?” A real problem arises when we try to do God’s work in our own strength. We often rush into a ministry because we see its potential and believe we possess the skills and abilities to do a good job. We forget that while God may choose to use us, it is really Him doing it through us. He knows what He has designed each of us to do, and He wants to do it through us.
Here's what Jesus said;
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. - John 5:19, 30 NIV
Paul said something similar;
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20 NIV
3. “Am I taking time to stay filled and balanced?” Another reason for ministry burnout is lack of self-care. Those who minister are often selfless in their desire to serve. When needs are so great, resources so small, and fellow servants so few, those in ministry do not always put healthy boundaries on their time, energy, and efforts. They give and give without rest until there is nothing left of them.
But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. - Philippians 2:17 NIV
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. - 2 Timothy 4:6 NIV
Recovery
Here are 11 burnout recovery suggestions:
1 Spend time with God everyday when it's just Him and you.
If you’re not spending time with God on a daily basis, you’re going to dry up and blow away when the pressure is on. You won’t be able to handle it. You’ve got to make time to listen during a daily time with God. You have to sit and be quiet. You have to read the Bible and talk to God. Play some music. If you like to journal, do that. Whatever it takes to keep the focus on God, do it!
2. Take care of yourself Pay careful attention to yourself. Know your strengths and weaknesses, and be sure to care for yourself and your family.
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. - 1 Timothy 4:16 NIV
3. Depend on God for the strength and power you need. Remember, the ministry is not yours – it is God’s. He called you and He wants accomplish His work in you. Stop trying to control what you can’t control and manage what you have no business managing. This includes managing other’s opinions of you and their reactions to you.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Ephesians 2:10 NIV
4. Lower your own expectations Learn to say no and ask others to use their gifts. Ministry is not a one person show.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. - 1 Corinthians 12:27 NIV
5. Learn to balance your life and pace yourself. Ministry is not a sprint; it is a marathon. Take the long view and realize that sometimes slowing down will make you more effective. Structure your time so that you are not always rushed. Take frequent breaks. Give yourself permission to take a nap and to rest.
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. - Exodus 20:8-11 NIV
6. Create time away to get refreshed. Because ministry requires you to be spiritually fit, and you can’t be in good spiritual condition by always being on the go and rushed. Jesus often “withdrew to a quiet place” and effectively said “no” to ministry opportunities. He should be your example.
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. - Luke 5:15-16 NIV
It’s a good idea to schedule times to rest. One person suggested that you treat you scheduled rest times as “real” appointments. If someone asks for a meeting you can honestly “I have an appointment.”
7. Do things that are not directly related to your ministry. You will enjoy those times when you are not the one in charge, the one with all the knowledge, and the one who must make it happen! If you don't have a hobby get one. You need a healthy distraction from ministry that will refresh you.
8. Develop a sense of humor so that you can laugh at yourself and difficult situations.
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones - Proverbs 17:22 NIV
9. Pay careful attention to your health Don’t underestimate the importance of staying physically healthy. Maintain a good diet, adequate sleep patterns. and regular exercise.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. - 1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV
10. Seek and keep intimate fellowship with others with whom you can share your burdens. There are others like you who need someone to talk to about how their feelings of ministry burnout. Share your successes, challenges, and struggles. Don’t buy into the lie that you “have to keep up appearances” and “protect your turf.” Protecting your reputation is often used as an excuse to stay entrenched in isolation. When you develop new relationships you give God an opportunity to create friendships, alliances, and ministry opportunities that may surprise you.
11. Get help if you need it. Those who are active in ministry are most at risk for burnout. Recognizing that you’re getting burned out shouldn’t require anything as dramatic as almost getting hit by a bus. One of the best things you can do for your ministry, yourself, and your family may be to visit with a trusted counselor who can be there for you, provide insight and feedback, and help you along the way.
12. Follow Jesus’ example. When you constantly bear the burdens of others, and feel the responsibility for meeting physical and emotional needs, you can quickly run dry.
The secret to resisting burnout is to understand how to be refilled. That secret is to follow the example of Jesus. He spent time in prayer, fasting, consecration, and crying out to His Father, pouring His heart out and receiving answers. He spent time with close friends and also slipped away for solitude.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. - Mark 1:35 NIV
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. - Luke 5:15-16 NIV
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. - Matthew 6:6 NIV
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. - Mark 6:31-32 NIV
Guard Your Heart
I will end with something I read by John Eldridge from his book Waking The Dead
Matters Of The Heart
Above all else, guard your heart. — Proverbs 4:23
We usually hear this with a sense of “keep an eye on that heart of yours,” in the way you’d warn a deputy watching over some dangerous outlaw, or a bad dog the neighbors let run. “Don’t let him out of your sight.” Having so long believed our hearts are evil, we assume the warning is to keep us out of trouble. So we lock up our hearts and throw away the key, and then try to get on with our living. But that isn’t the spirit of the command at all. It doesn’t say guard your heart because it’s criminal; it says guard your heart because it is the wellspring of your life, because it is a treasure, because everything else depends on it. How kind of God to give us this warning, like someone’s entrusting to a friend something precious to him, with the words: “Be careful with this — it means a lot to me.”
Above all else? Good grief — we don’t even do it once in a while. We might as well leave our life savings on the seat of the car with the windows rolled down — we’re that careless with our hearts. “If not for my careless heart,” sang Roy Orbison, and it might be the anthem for our lives. Things would be different. I would be further along. My faith would be much deeper. My relationships so much better. My life would be on the path God meant for me… if not for my careless heart. We live completely backward. “All else” is above our hearts. I’ll wager that caring for your heart isn’t even a category you think in. “Let’s see — I’ve got to get the kids to soccer, the car needs to be dropped off at the shop, and I need to take a couple of hours for my heart this week.” It probably sounds unbiblical.
Seriously, now — what do you do on a daily basis to care for your heart? Okay, that wasn’t fair. How about weekly? Monthly?
Yes, we do have a cultural scrap of this called vacation. Most working-class folks get a week or two off each year, and that is the only time they actually plan to do something that might be good for their souls. Or they squander the scrap on some place like Miami, as a poor man spends his last dollar on a lottery ticket. And you know how it goes when you get back. The attitude among your family, friends, and colleagues is usually something like, “Great! You’re back! Hope you had a good time ’cause, boy, everything fell apart while you were gone and we’re expecting — now that you’re rested up — that you’ll really put your nose to the grindstone.” Whatever that week gave you is devoured in a matter of moments or days.
But God intends that we treat our hearts as the treasures of the kingdom, ransomed at tremendous cost, as if they really do matter, and matter deeply.
Excerpted with permission from Waking the Dead by John Eldredge, copyright John Eldredge.
Scriptures To Meditate On To Remedy Burnout
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. - 2 Corinthians 4:1 NIV
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. - John 15:1-5 NIV
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. - Isaiah 40:31 NIV
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. -
Matthew 14:13 NIV
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. - Psalm 46:1-3 NIV
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - Matthew 28:18-20 NIV
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. - James 4:10 NIV
This Is Just The Beginning
Because I know myself and I know you, I will continue to write about ministry burnout, its signs, how to avoid it, and how to recover. This is just the first of my my new blog post category, Burnout.
I will end with something I read by John Eldridge from his book Waking The Dead
Matters Of The Heart
Above all else, guard your heart. — Proverbs 4:23
We usually hear this with a sense of “keep an eye on that heart of yours,” in the way you’d warn a deputy watching over some dangerous outlaw, or a bad dog the neighbors let run. “Don’t let him out of your sight.” Having so long believed our hearts are evil, we assume the warning is to keep us out of trouble. So we lock up our hearts and throw away the key, and then try to get on with our living. But that isn’t the spirit of the command at all. It doesn’t say guard your heart because it’s criminal; it says guard your heart because it is the wellspring of your life, because it is a treasure, because everything else depends on it. How kind of God to give us this warning, like someone’s entrusting to a friend something precious to him, with the words: “Be careful with this — it means a lot to me.”
Above all else? Good grief — we don’t even do it once in a while. We might as well leave our life savings on the seat of the car with the windows rolled down — we’re that careless with our hearts. “If not for my careless heart,” sang Roy Orbison, and it might be the anthem for our lives. Things would be different. I would be further along. My faith would be much deeper. My relationships so much better. My life would be on the path God meant for me… if not for my careless heart. We live completely backward. “All else” is above our hearts. I’ll wager that caring for your heart isn’t even a category you think in. “Let’s see — I’ve got to get the kids to soccer, the car needs to be dropped off at the shop, and I need to take a couple of hours for my heart this week.” It probably sounds unbiblical.
Seriously, now — what do you do on a daily basis to care for your heart? Okay, that wasn’t fair. How about weekly? Monthly?
Yes, we do have a cultural scrap of this called vacation. Most working-class folks get a week or two off each year, and that is the only time they actually plan to do something that might be good for their souls. Or they squander the scrap on some place like Miami, as a poor man spends his last dollar on a lottery ticket. And you know how it goes when you get back. The attitude among your family, friends, and colleagues is usually something like, “Great! You’re back! Hope you had a good time ’cause, boy, everything fell apart while you were gone and we’re expecting — now that you’re rested up — that you’ll really put your nose to the grindstone.” Whatever that week gave you is devoured in a matter of moments or days.
But God intends that we treat our hearts as the treasures of the kingdom, ransomed at tremendous cost, as if they really do matter, and matter deeply.
Excerpted with permission from Waking the Dead by John Eldredge, copyright John Eldredge.
Scriptures To Meditate On To Remedy Burnout
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. - 2 Corinthians 4:1 NIV
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. - John 15:1-5 NIV
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. - Isaiah 40:31 NIV
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. -
Matthew 14:13 NIV
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. - Psalm 46:1-3 NIV
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - Matthew 28:18-20 NIV
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. - James 4:10 NIV
This Is Just The Beginning
Because I know myself and I know you, I will continue to write about ministry burnout, its signs, how to avoid it, and how to recover. This is just the first of my my new blog post category, Burnout.
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