Day Two: Come and Go

Burnout happens when we don’t do a good job of receiving what we need from God. During my years as a campus minister, the beginning of the fall semester was new student outreach and a time when I would burn the candle at both ends. There would be social events to plan, contacts to follow up on, and long nights hanging out with students in the dorms. One year, well past the end of new student outreach, I found myself limping into Thanksgiving break, an exhausted and discouraged heap. When I analyzed what had happened, I realized that I never really slowed down after new student outreach was over.

How often do we rev up for an intense ministry season and then have a hard time slowing back down again? In John 10:9, Jesus says that the sheep come and go freely from the green pastures where they are fed and rested. Are we doing the same? Are we able to come and go easily from the outward ministry efforts to the inward quiet places where Jesus gives us all that we need to continue pursuing our call to Kingdom living?

Slowly and prayerfully read each of the scriptures from this devotion, letting each phrase really sink in. These are all passages about how much God longs to bless us with good things, including rest after hard work. God is not a taskmaster, driving us to the end of ourselves. The image of sheep with a shepherd is an apt metaphor. The Shepherd would never drive the sheep to the point of burnout, so why do we wind up doing that to ourselves?

Let the Good Shepherd lead you to pastures where you can rest and be nourished. Ask God to teach you to Come and Go more freely between intense ministry efforts and times of recovery.