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Life Application Sermon Series: Sermon #6
When You Feel Like Quitting
(Preventing Burnout)
Galatians 6: 9
Text Scripture:
9And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Intro:
A burned-out light bulb doesn’t produce light. Neither does a burned-out Christian!
“Burn-out” is a ninety’s term for “growing weary.”
In the text scripture I’ve read today God promises that we will reap the harvest if we just don’t burn out.
With so many demands on our lives and on our time today, burn out is a very real problem that we must learn how to deal with. If we do not . . . we will “burn out!”
ILLUSTRATION:
February 2, 1985, during the Daytona 500 Auto Race, the $250,000 car driven by professional driver Donnie Allison was only on its third lap when it rolled to a stop on the infield side of the track.
Nothing was mechanically wrong with the car . . . neither was there anything wrong with the driver.
What was the problem? . . . In all the hustle and bustle of doing everything that had to be done to prepare the car for the race . . . somebody forgot to make sure there was fuel in the car. IT WAS OUT OF GAS!
The skill of the driver and the potential of the car were completely nullified . . . simply because somebody forgot to put gas in the car.
So it is with Christianity . . . In the race of life . . . regardless of our “skill” and “potential,” if we fail to insure that we have the proper amount of “Spiritual Gas” in our Spiritual tank . . . WE WILL SIMPLY RUN OUT OF GAS!
IT IS SO EASY TO QUIT . . . All we have to do is keep going until the tank is empty!
Then, when the fuel gauge reads empty . . . we simply quit!
We go from “giving out” to “giving up!”
Cars that aren’t refueled will run out of gas.
Wells that aren’t replenished will run out of water.
Batteries that aren’t recharged lose their power.
We aren’t any different . . . A Christian that is not refueled, replenished, and recharged will burn out.
Burnout doesn’t happen overnight!
It begins by burning the candle at both ends . . . that works well for awhile . . . until a series of events brings us to the point of exhaustion.
We become sapped of strength.
Our motivation to continue quickly evaporates.
We can’t stand the thought of one more obligation . . . so we resign!
*It happens everyday in jobs, marriages, and churches!
IF YOU ARE BURNING YOUR CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS . . .YOU AREN’T AS BRIGHTAS YOU THINK!
Burnout can be prevented if we watch for the red flags. Tonight, I want to look at some of those flags.
1: Stage One: We become disillusioned.
Resulting in: Losing vision.
Red Flag: Dreading the future.
A: When we become disillusioned, we lose our vision.
*DISILLUSIONMENT COMES WHEN “THE PICTURE IN OUR MINDS” DOESN’T MATCH“REALITY.”
That ideal mental picture is shattered by the reality of the situation.
The bubble burst.
The dream dies.
The vision vanishes.
And then we become disillusioned.
***When we realize that somebody doesn’t match the perfect mental picture we have of them, we have two choices . . .
1: Tear up the person.
2: Tear up the picture.
When we conger up these perfect pictures of our lives we exclude:
Flat tires
Dirty diapers
Broken water pipes
Unreasonable employers
Overdue bills
AND DISAGREABLE PEOPLE THAT WILL MESS UP OUR PICTURES!
However, all these things are part of the reality of life!
AND WHEN REALITY CLASHES WITH FANTASY . . . SOMETHING HAS GOT TO GIVE . . . AND UNLESS YOU ARE WALIKING AS YOU SHOULD WITH THE LORD . . . IT WILL BE YOU THAT GIVES!
Herein are the first symptoms of burn out:
When you’ve lost your vision
When you dread tomorrow.
The red flag is waiving . . . if you don’t do something soon . . . you’re going to burn out!
2: Stage Two: We become discouraged.
Result: Losing heart.
Red flag: Significant decrease in motivation.
A: When we become discouraged, we lose heart.
*First come disillusionment . . . then discouragement.
When we are discouraged our motivation for completing a task dwindles!
PERSONAL ILLUSTRATION:
Many of you remember me speaking of the elderly gentleman that I looked after until he died.
I loved him dearly. He loved me.
Before he died he gave me many things.
It was almost a year before I ever went and took possession of many of the things he had given me.
People would ask me, “Why don’t you go get this or that and bring it home?” I would reply, “Oh, I’ve thought about it, but every time I do I just don’t have the heart to go and get it.”
I had the right to get it . . .
I had the skill to get it . . .
I just didn’t have the heart to do it!
EXAMPLE:
When Joshua sent the soldiers to A-I after Jerico, they though the victory would come easily. When the men of A-I routed them, the Bible says in Joshua 7: 5, “The hearts of the people melted, and became as water.”
They were depressed.
They lost heart.
Have you ever became depressed over something and said, “Oh, what’s the use anyway?”
Have you ever said, “I use to really care. Now I don’t care whether I do it or not?”
But listen to me . . . we always give up in our hearts before we give up in actions!
The Bible teaches in Proverbs 23: 7, “ For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
When we “lose heart” we are in danger of quitting!
Jesus taught us in Luke 18: 1 not to “lose heart” in our prayers, “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”
ILLUSTRATION:
A wealthy woman called the manager of a concert hall. She asked, “Have you found a diamond pendant? I think I lost it in your building last night.”
The manager said, “No, we haven’t found it, but we will look. Please hold the line.”
After several minutes of searching someone found the diamond.
The manager came back on the line and said, “I’ve got good news. We found you pendant . . . Hello? . . . Hello?”
The woman became weary of waiting and had hung up.
The diamond was never claimed . . .
Whatever your situation tonight:
THE ANSWER IS ON THE WAY . . DON’T HANG UP!
The first two signs of burn out are:
1: Disillusionment. . . . Losing our vision.
2: Discouragement . . . Losing heart.
3: Stage Three: We become discontented.
Result: Losing joy.
Red Flag: Restlessness and complaining.
A: When we become discontented, we lose our joy.
Discontentment and joy cannot reside together within the same heart.
One will drive the other out!
Have you ever met joyful, discontented people? No! Why? Because they don’t exist!
You’re either happy or you’re not . . . simple as that!
1 Timothy 6: 6 teaches us, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”
If we allow discontentment to enter our hearts, we will become unsettled and restless.
Nothing will satisfy or make us happy.
We will become so irritated with our present circumstances that we will do anything to get away from them.
Discontentment will control us, rather than God.
At this stage we are in serious danger of stepping outside of God’s will!
I want to examine three things that discontentment will do:
1: Discontentment disrespects God’s will.
Quitting becomes more dominantin our thoughtsthan whether or not we are in God’s will.
Once we quit something the first time . . . it becomes easier the next time.
Then, when things get a little tough in the next situation, we decide to quit again!
After we quit the second time, we search for a “problem free” environment. But, sooner or later problems will arise in that area too.
By now, quitting has become a habit.
We have developed a quitter’s mentality.
We simply quit without ever considering God’s will! (Yes, sometimes it is God’s will for you to quit . . . but know that before you quit!)
2: Discontentment disregards the circumstances.
Discontentment doesn’t permit us to think of the “long term” consequences of our actions.
Wrong decisions can bring disastrous results!
ILLUSTRATION:
Yesterday a young girl was rushed to the emergency room in LaGrange. Doctors found an umbilical cord, but no baby.
About an hour later the baby was found buried under the house in a garbage bag. The baby had been stabbed to death.
I was told the mother showed no remorse.
Wrong decisions can bring disastrous results!
Discontentment will always blind us to the consequences we must face as a result of “giving up” too soon . . . QUITTING BEFORE GOD TELLS YOU TOO!
3: Discontentment distorts our view of life.
Once discontentment enters our heart it distorts our entire view of life.
Matthew 5: 8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” . . . But I’m here to tell you tonight that the discontented and “defiled” in heart . . . will have a blurred vision of God in their lives!!!
ILLUSTRATION:
A preacher knocked on the door of one of his member’s home. A little girl answered the door. She was looking through a piece of red cellophane paper.
She said, “Look mommy, we’ve got a red preacher. We’ve got red walls. The whole house is red.”
DISCONTENTMENT AND JUDGEMENTALISM CAUSES US TO VIEW LIFE THROUGH OUR OWN DISTORTED VISION! . . . LIKE IT OR NOT!
1: Disillusionment. . . . Losing our vision.
2: Discouragement . . . Losing heart.
3: Discontentment . . . Losing joy.
4: Stage Four: We become disassociated.
A: When we of our own will (not in God’s will) disassociate ourselves from the situation that bothers us, we lose our reward.
The reward for the farmer that has plowed, fertilized, sowed, watered, and waited is the harvest.
10Galatians 6: 9: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
I’m going to tell you straight up tonight that there are people in this church (and every church) that no longer attend this church.
They got mad at something I said or done . . .
Something you said or done . . .
And without even consulting God . . . they took their ball and bat and went home.
Let me tell you something . . . If God didn’t tell them to quit . . . they’re out of His will and they will lose their reward! I DON’T CARE WHO YOU ARE, I AIN’T LOSING MY REWARD FOR ANYBODY. I’M STAYING ‘TILL GOD TELLS ME TO LEAVE . . . DO WHAT YOU WANT TOO!
ILLUSTRATION:
Men that went into it after it had been abandoned, and began to re-dig it discovered one of the largest diamond mines in the world. Do you know how far they dug before they found the diamonds?Six inches!
The harvest comes at the end of the season . . . but if we quit before then, all the work we have done will be in vain!
1: Disillusionment. . . . Losing our vision.
2: Discouragement . . . Losing heart.
3: Discontentment . . . Losing joy.
4: Disassociation . . . Losing rewards.
Well then, how do we prevent burn out? Glad you asked . . . I’ve got five easy steps:
1: Rest from your labor.
Exodus 20: 8-10:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
A: The command to rest is just as valid as the command to work!
If we don’t take regular breaks from our labor, we become addicted to our labor and become workaholics!
ILLUSTRATION:
Workaholic on a street corner with a sign: Will work for the fun of it!
Although God wants us to enjoy our work . . . He wants us to enjoy our rest!
2: Reduce your workload.
Hebrews 12: 1:
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
ILLUSTRATION:
In the old west . . . cowboys . . . branding irons . . . too many would put the fire out . . . thus, our modern day term, too many irons in the fire!
ILLUSTRATION:
Too many “little things” will “pull us down!”
HMS Queen Mary had to be brought into dry dock to clean off the barnacles.
A barnacle is a small crustacean that grows on the hull of the ship. It is not big enough by itself to cause the ship any problems. However, when enough of them attached themselves to the hull, it causes so much drag that the ship is actually slowed down and has to be brought into dry dock to be cleaned. . . . So it is with us!
Song of Solomon 2: 15, “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.”
If we don’t let go of something we will eventually let go of everything because we will burn out!
3: Regulate your schedule.
Live one day at a time.
Matthew 6: 34, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
We are not in a sprint . . . we are in a marathon!
ILLUSTRATION:
Lady in a boating accident far from shore.
Everybody else drowned.
She made it to shore.
When they found her on the beach she was still mumbling to herself: One stroke at a time!
4: Refuel your spirit.
Ephesians 5: 18: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”
Usually, when a person burns out, he has been trying to live the Christian life by the flesh rather than by the Spirit of God!
SOMETIMES WE ARE LIKE A CUP OF COFFEE THAT A WITRESS ASKS IF SHE CAN WARM UP . . . WE’VE BEEN SITTING AWHILE, BUT WHEN THE FRESH FIREHITS US, WE WARM UP!
We re-fuel our Spirit by surrounding ourselves with Spiritual people, positive people, and Spiritual stuff . . .
Listen to good preaching tapes . . .
Listen to Gospel singing tapes . . .
Read the Bible.
Pray.
Go to church.
Bible studies.
Christian fellowships.
AND AVOID NEGATIVE PEOPLE!
5: Renew your vision.
Proverbs 29: 18:
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
ILLUSTRATION:
The late Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, was on a train.
The conductor asked to see his ticket.
He couldn’t find it.
The conductor assured him it would be okay, he could mail him the ticket when he found it.
Holmes told the conductor that it wouldn’t be okay . . . He needed the ticket to know where he was going!
Sometimes . . . we need things to renew our vision of where we are going!
Close:
The stages of burn out are:
1: Disillusionment. . . . Losing our vision.
2: Discouragement . . . Losing heart.
3: Discontentment . . . Losing joy.
4: Disassociation . . . Losing rewards.
How to prevent burn out:
1: Rest from your labor.
2: Reduce your workload.
3: Regulate your schedule.
4: Refuel your spirit.
5: Renew your vision.
Preached: 5-12-99 @ Roper Heights . . . Recorded for series.