Battling Burnout - HG Bishop Angaelos

The Concept of Burnout

• We've discussed the sin of laziness, and we've discussed the sin of busyness - but one thing that leads from the sin of busyness is the concept of burnout
• We overcommit and become over-tired and start not to be able to cope
• Four questions
  • Who are we?
  • What do we need?
  • Why do we burnout?
  • How are we revitalized?

Who We Are

• We are created with authority and dominion
• We are created to be able to take charge and subdue
• We are the Image and Likeness of God - we have a spirit within us. Body and spirit, and the spirit lives on.
• "The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life" (Job 33:4)
  • We are those made by God, and given life by God
  • We are more than happy to take credit and feel proud about our successes, and we forget that in our essence, we are dust. We came from nothing. We were given life and existence and spirit, by God and God alone
• "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
  • There are different components of our life
    • Seen/temporary/outward
    • Invisible/eternal/inward
  • The outward man perishes; the inward man is renewed day by day
  • The light affliction is "but for a moment" but this is contrary to how we act today where any inconvenience that lasts more than five minutes and we get upset or we say "where is God" or "why has God left me"
• We are physical and spiritual
  • The physical is subject to this world
  • The spiritual is eternal

What do we need?

• We must need spiritual sustenance
  • If we are striving in our spiritual life, we will find that what St Paul talks about is true... our inward man is being renewed day by day. If we are not, then our outward man will be renewed day by day, but our inward man will perish.
    • We focus on ourselves, our appearance, our work, our school, our day-to-day life
    • But our inner man is not provided for
  • If I look after my Spirit, it will
    • Allow me to discern what to take and what not to take; what to do and what not to do; what I can say yes to and what I have to say "I don't have time"
    • The grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit within me will allow me to actually go through with everything I committed to
• Be careful that you're not always running
  • ⁴² Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; ⁴³ but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” ⁴⁴ And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. (Luke 4:42)
• Retreat to Nourish the Spirit
  • You can't run a business without daily checking on your stock... you can't sell sell sell until your shelves are empty and then re-fill them
  • Regular retreat
    • At a retreat or convention, you stock up your shelves - but after the retreat, you are grabbing from the shelves regularly (strength, faith, etc) 
    • One day you find the shelf empty... you need to restock it daily
  • Daily retreat:
    • Even just 20minutes a day (in the morning if your schedule allows)
    • Read your Bible
    • Pray
    • Give yourself time to think and reflect about what you've read and what you're going to pray about, how you want your day to progress (morning) or what happened that day and how to improve the next day (evening)
• We need Peace
  • Peace comes from speaking to the Lord
  • As the disciples did on the boat and He said "Peace, be still"
  • Speak to the Lord and place our problems before Him, and He will stretch out His hands
  • Psalm 46:10 - "Be still, and know that I am God"

Why do we Burnout?

• We are distant from what we need
  • "Unless Your law had been my delight,
    I would then have perished in my affliction." (Psalm 119:92)
  • Because Your law was not my delight, I perished in my affliction
  • I burnt out because Your law was not my delight
• My concept of satisfaction cannot be satisfied
  • “For My people have committed two evils:
    They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
    And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water." (Jeremiah 2:13)
  • It's nice to be ambitious and have targets, to be target-oriented, but we need to be realistic about what we want, what targets to follow and how to achieve them
  • Someone will say "I wanna make my first million by this age, and my second million by this age, etc." and it isn't about what you need but it's what you want to do - and it never ends. The money isn't a commodity, but an indication of my success
  • There are spouses who miss the best parts of their marriage, parents who miss the best part of their kids, youth who miss the best part of their parents' lives - just to get a little more money.
  • We have to assess our needs

How are we Revitalized?

• In this time of burnout, God does not leave us
• "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
  That I would see the goodness of the Lord
  In the land of the living.
  Wait on the Lord;
  Be of good courage,
  And He shall strengthen your heart;
  Wait, I say, on the Lord!" (Psalm 27:13-14)
  • By waiting on the Lord, being of good courage, believing on the Lord
  • Revitalization comes from looking past this life into the life that is to come and realizing THAT is my target to be achieved (i.e. "the land of the living")
  • You'll get the most impressive car in the world, and six months later, there's a more impressive one.
    You'll get the newest fashion and best shoes and most incredible handbag... and two weeks later, that needs to change.