It’s a new year. You get a fresh start. This year, you are going to be a new you. You are going to be a better you. Top priority is your faith.
This year, you are going to be the best Christian you have ever been. You are going to commit the entire year to Christ. This is it. Turn your life around and live your faith to the highest.
Here was your plan:
- Pray for an entire hour every morning. This hour doesn’t even include your bible study and devotion either. 60 minutes of all out prayer.
- Read your Bible for an hour too. Might have to break that up to two reading periods. Thirty minutes in the morning. Thirty in the evening when you get home from work, after your kids sports practice, oh and after homework, and dinner preparation.
- Going to skip eating lunch also. During lunch, you’ll work at the soup kitchen. You got time to scoot out of the office, do that, and then get back.
- Also, Sunday morning and Sunday evening worship. Wednesday night Bible study also. Hey, this is your year, you are going to host a study in your house on Thursday night also. You’ll get your spouse to cover the kids' activities.
- And you are going to teach Sunday School, volunteer to serve on a church committee, and sing in the praise brand (which also means rehearsal on Saturday).
- You are not sure how you are going to do it, but you are also going to help Habitat for Humanity once a month.
- Oh yeah, and that week long spiritual retreat, you are going to do that also right after you go as a chaperone for the youth summer trip and the winter retreat.
Here is reality a month into your program:
- Yeah, the morning prayer time is not going too great. Actually, it is not going at all. You are too tired to roll out of bed. Why are you too tired?
- Well, Wednesday night Bible study and hosting a group in your home is proving a bit much. You are getting your lesson preparation for Sunday School and Bible study all mixed up. When you complete one, you look with dread at the other.
- The boss has also noticed you are slipping out during lunch. At first he thought it was commendable. But now, he is worried. You don’t seem to go with joy any more. In fact, if he didn’t know better, he would think the task has become a second job, only during lunch. Rather than being refreshed and ready for the afternoon meetings, you are unprepared and not engaged.
- Your husband has taken notice also. With the studies, the rehearsals, and all the committee meetings, he seems to be the one doing all the children’s activities. Because he supports you, he has also taken over dinner arrangements. You seem too rushed to even think about supper. The last serious conversation you had with him, he quipped you spent more time at the church than you do at home.
What happened?
You made the mistake many people make when trying to grow in their faith. You had unrealistic expectations. While commendable, you bit off more than you could chew.
Many people make this mistake. They have incredible intentions. But your intentions didn’t take into account the rest of your life.
How do you fix it?
First things first - Stop. Seriously, stop before you crash and burn or damage your relationships, not only with your spouse and children, but even with those in your small groups and church. Listen, if your boss and husband are taking notice, so is everyone else - including those you teach.
Second, take a break. Yes, take a week or two off completely. Maybe not from work, but you must reconnect with your family. More importantly, you need to reconnect with yourself. You need to get back to waking up refreshed. You need to reclaim the joy of your faith, looking forward to church and worship.
Third, do not do this step until you have completed the first two and are absolutely positive you are ready, talk with your pastor or a spiritual director/coach. Allow them to help you to work out a practical and doable plan for you to grow in your faith. Be honest and tell them how you completely exhausted yourself. Create a baby-step plan to help have the faith you are seeking. This plan must include your work and your family. I suggest you attend only one small group beyond worship services. Make it Sunday School or a small group, whichever fits into your timeline of your spouse and kids. If you are going to serve in a ministry, only one! It can be choir, soup kitchen, or whatever, but only one.
Find a short easy to read devotional plan to follow. Once you get back into a rhythm and you want to expand it, go ahead, but not too much larger than what you are doing.
Fourth, and this is big, don’t allow anyone else to demand your time from you. Slowing down on your unrealistic faith plan doesn’t mean you can fill the perceived extra time with other things. If you fail to follow this step, you will find yourself even more exhausted. Sadly, your exhaustion will be from worldly demands. If you are going to live an exhausted life, at least do it for Christ. Go back to your unrealistic faith plan. I’d rather you not do either plan of exhaustion. You will be better off learning to live a life of joy which you cannot experience when you are running on empty and uncontrollable on two wheels.
Conclusion
You cannot have the faith you want if you are burned out. Faith is meant to create joy in your life. Faith is meant to encourage, fulfill, and create a spirit of fruitfulness and holiness. Be realistic in your approach to faith. Take it one step at a time and see what happens.
