Abiding in God’s presence prevents us from falling into feelings of burnout.
3 benefits of abiding in Christ:
1. Bearing fruit that glorifies the Lord (John 15:4-8, 11)
2. True rest in His presence (Matthew 11:28-30)
3. Protection and peace that surpasses all understanding (Psalm 91, Philippians 4:6-8)
There’s a balance between spending time to hear from the Lord and taking action in faith to carry out the assignment at hand.
James 1:22 tells us to be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
In Luke 10:38-42, we see the difference between striving in our own strength and abiding in the presence of Jesus.
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Given the historical context at the time, the expectation and norm was women would serve, prepare dinners, take care of the household tasks, etc. Martha’s questioning of why Mary wasn’t helping her was reasonable for that time but what condition of heart was she asking these questions from?
Martha invited Jesus into her house but proceeded to be consumed with the action of everything she was doing instead of being present with Jesus. She allowed herself to be distracted with serving and preparing. Meanwhile, Mary chose to be present with Jesus at His feet and listen to what He was sharing. Feelings of burnout is a warning sign that you need to get into the presence of God.
The one thing that can not be taken away from us is the secret time we spend in His presence and the relationship that we have with the Lord.
A great question we get to ask ourselves is: Am I striving out of my own strength to serve? OR am I abiding in Christ so He is my strength in all that I do to serve? Who are you trying to get approval from? God or man?
To strive means to go to great extents/efforts to obtain something or a result. Pushing flesh leads to burnout. When that’s done out our own strength, it results in feelings of exhaustion, burnout, comparison, complaining, etc.
To abide means to remain, to continue to be present, and endure. As we remain and continue in the presence of the Lord, He provides us with the strength to serve Him with joy in all that we do.
You’re a child of God before any position or title.
Serving in ministry is a great thing but we need to prioritize spending time in the presence of God with our secret time.
By prioritizing time with Him, He provides us with the strength, wisdom and strategy on how we need to move and serve in ministry.
When we abide in Christ, He give us the true joy to continue to do it all things for His glory.
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