The Cure for Burnout Sermon Delivered on August 24, 2014 By Rev. Donna L. Martin Text: 1 Kings 19:1-16 (Inspiration for this sermon and some content were obtained from a sermon by Rick Warren that can be found at http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/avoiding-personal-burnout-rick-warren-sermon-on- stress-127081.asp) vitameatavegamin clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Z264w9_2Q

Do you think Elijah could have used some vitameatavegamin? In our passage today, he certainly seems fatigued, frazzled and frantic. I believe he was suffering from what we call burnout these days. But what brought him to such a state? Well, for that we are going to have to back up a bit. Elijah stood up boldly for God in a time when idolatry had swept the land of Israel. To please Queen Jezebel, King Ahab had erected altars to the god, Baal, and the queen had murdered all of God's prophets except for Elijah who went into hiding. Because of the people’s unfaithfulness, God caused a great drought. Famine descended upon the land. But when the time was right, Elijah came out of seclusion to demonstrate God’s power. Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of another god, Asherah, to a showdown on Mount Carmel. Which ever God could rain down fire to consume their sacrifice would be the real god. The idolaters sacrificed a bull and cried out to Baal from morning until nightfall, but nothing happened. Elijah then rebuilt the altar of the Lord and put down wood with the sacrificial bull upon it. These he had thoroughly soaked with water. Then Elijah called on the Lord, and God's fire fell from heaven, consuming the offering, the wood, the altar, and the water. The people were convinced of God’s power and shouted "The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God." (1 Kings 18:39, NIV) Elijah ordered the execution of the 850 false prophets. Then he prayed, and the long awaited rain fell on Israel. But in the process he had made an enemy of Jezebel, so in our passage today he is running for his life. No wonder Elijah was too pooped to party! Though he was a great prophet and God had used him in some miraculous ways, he was still only a normal human being just like you and me. So it is no surprise he was showing some classic signs of burnout. Such as the need to be in charge of everything and control the outcome. In 1 King 19:19 Elijah says, “I have

1 worked very hard for the Lord God of the heavens but the people of Israel have broken their covenant with You and have torn down Your altars." Elijah was a man of God, a teacher of the truth. Yet he couldn’t control those darn Israelites and so he blamed himself for their unfaithfulness. He is suffering from what a like to call the Atlas Syndrome. He acts as if he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Don’t we do this sometimes also? We think, “I have to make sure everything’s going to turn out all right. I have to hold everything together. If it is to be, it’s up to me. I have to make it all work out.” Folks, when we try to be the general manager of the universe, we are setting ourselves up for burnout. We can’t do it all and we certainly cannot control the outcome. Another sign of burnout is emotional reasoning (an oxymoron if there ever was one). In verse 10 b Elijah says, “I’m the only one left and they’re trying to kill me." Can you hear the pity party he’s having here? "God, I’m the only person in the whole world who lives for You and loves You and they’re trying to kill me, too." Just a few days earlier they’d had this great miracle where Elijah prayed, the fire came from heaven. The whole nation saw it and the whole nation came to God in one day. It was a high point in his ministry, but now he is so drained emotionally, spiritually, physically, he can’t see the reality of the situation. He is operating out of emotional reasoning. One woman wants him dead, but she even sent someone to warn him ANC, if we were to read a little further, we would find that there were actually 700 other faithful believers in Israel besides Elijah. But in his exhausted state, he feels all alone. Can’t we relate to this also? We get tired or depressed or angry and then we overemphasize what’s wrong in our lives while ignoring our blessings. We become focused on the negative rather than the positive. We see the cup as half empty not as half full. When we are “in a mood” we can’t see what is really happening and we think the whole world is caving in on us. When we are drained, fatigued, depressed we typically can’t see reality as it really is. There is something more important than our feelings…. it is the truth. Jesus did not say, "When you know your feelings, your feelings will set you free." He said, "When you know the truth, the truth will set you free." So the next time you find yourself using emotional reasoning, ask yourself, “Is what I am feeling really the truth? Has everyone really turned against me? Am I always the one getting the short end of the stick? When you are feeling this way, stop and do a reality (or truth) check. 2

A third sign of Elijah’s burnout is the abdication of his dream or vision. Elijah is so despondent he prays that he might die. “I’ve had enough Lord. It’s just not worth it. I’m ready to throw in the towel. Just let me die.” Some of you may be at that point today. You have lost your vision. You’re ready to give up your goals. You’re so emotionally, physically, spiritually drained you just want to throw in the towel. You have bottomed out. Not only do you not know where to turn, you don’t even care if you turn. You are tired, rundown, and listless. You are too pooped out to party and you really don’t care if you are popular or not. Well, rather than trying vitameatavegamin (which by the way ended up making Lucy pretty loopy), let’s look further at Elijah’s story to find the cure for burnout. The first step of Elijah’s cure (and ours) is taking care of physical needs. We read, "He laid down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once the angel touched him and said, `Get up and eat.’ He looked around and there by his head was a cake of bread over hot coals and a jar of water. He ate and he drank and he laid down again to go to sleep. Then the angel came back a second time and touched him and said, `Get up and eat again.’" I like this plan. God’s first step to help us get over burnout is to sleep and eat, sleep and eat. Notice Elijah was NOT told, “When you’re depressed go shopping." So first, we take care of our physical needs. Next we take care of our emotional health. For Elijah this meant blowing off some steam. God asks, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And Elijah basically says, “There are six things that bug me, God. In the first place, I’m afraid. I’m bitter. I’m angry. On top of that I’m lonely. On top of that I’m worried. And on top of it all, I’m depressed." Do you think God was shocked with Elijah’s griping? Of course not! God wasn’t surprised. And God didn’t say, "You shouldn’t feel that way." He listened. Friends, God knows our feelings better than we do. He just wants us to stop and know them. He will not be shocked by what we have to say. By talking out our feelings, we get in touch with what we’re feeling and thinking. And God wants us to do that, so God just says, "I’m here. I’ll listen as long as you want me to, until you run out of words and can just be with me." Finally, a complete cure for burnout must also include a spiritual component. We saw how Elijah had lost his spiritual vision and was ready to quit the prophet business. This was because he was focused on himself 3

– his own particular problems. He needed a fresh awareness of God’s power and presence in his life. And so we read in 1 Kings 19:11 that God tells Elijah "Go out and stand before Me on the mountain. Basically, God is saying, "Elijah, I want you to get alone with Me for awhile. There’s something I want you to see." In the next few verses, God puts on this massive, spectacular, incredible, pyrotechnic, multi media event for Elijah. A powerful wind, pouring through the mountain, shattered the rocks. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. But after the fire came a gentle whisper, a still small voice. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face, and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?’" This time when God asks Elijah knows God is God and he is not and he is ready to listen. Do you know that God never meant for you to be the manager of your life. He wants to manage your life. God made you. You were made by Him and for Him. Until you understand that, life isn’t going to make sense. That’s why you will get tired and rundown every time you try to make life work all by yourself. The secret of endurance is a balanced life – one in which we attend to our physical, emotional AND spiritual wellbeing. One in which you remain focused on God. But in order to focus your spiritual life on God you are going to have to find a way to hear the still, small voice. How do you do that? Well, at least once a year we emphasize the main characteristics of being a committed follower of Jesus Christ (code for being focused on God). Many of you probably know these attributes by heart. A committed follower of Jesus Christ prays, worships, and reads the Bible faithfully and consistently. They respond to God’s love for them through the giving of their time, talents, and resources. And they are witnesses in the world to God’s great love for all people. Now, there may be a few people here who have the discipline to do all these things on their own. However it has been my experience that most of us start out with lofty ideas about all we are going to do, but then life happens and we get off track or we run out of self-generated motivation Gradually we slip back into our old habits - doing these things when we feel like it or when can work them into our schedule.

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This is the normal pattern for lone-ranger Christians, but living the Christian life was never meant to be a solo act. We need the help and support of other believers and we need to be help and support for others believers. That is what it means to be a “community of faith.” Now for some of you lone ranger Christians doing things, you previously considered private, together may seem like taking a dose of medicine that is supposed to be good for you but tastes awful, like vitameatavegamin. But if you will just try it for a while I think you will find there is no unpleasant aftertaste. And so I have an invitation for you. Over the next few weeks I am going to be sharing with you some information about a new ministry here at Bethany called Life Transformation Groups. Life Transformation Groups are small accountability groups of two to three people meeting together weekly to focus on their spiritual lives – their love of God and their commitment to Christ. Through a set of specific questions, participants share with one another both the challenges and inspiration encountered on their Christian walk. Through mutually agreed upon scripture assignments, they dig into God’s word and to see how it produces fruit in their lives. And through praying for those who do not know Jesus, they grow into witnesses of God’s love for all people. I will be saying more about these groups in the weeks to come. And you will soon be given the opportunity to participate in a group. But for now, know that God has a cure for burnout. It has physical, emotional, and spiritual components. God had plans for Elijah to continue his work as a prophet. God has plans for me to continue my ministry. And he has plans for you in yours. Plans for more than mere survival because we were made to thrive. Amen.

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