Burnout Explanation

Foundation – To begin with, stress is good for a person, it strengthens them and builds them up.  Think about football players having to strain (stress) lifting weights.  Why?  To increase their strength.  It is when we mis-handle stress and the related emotions that we experience “distress.”  Distress is harmful and can be deadly.

Virtually all distress stems from relationships (God, family, spouse, self, others). 

We only have to deal with one question in life, “Is God being good to me right now?”  As long as we can answer, Yes, we have no real problems (distress).  On the other hand, when we answer, no, we have all kinds of problems (distress).

Burn out always occurs when we take responsibility that is NOT ours, like trying to motivate God’s people (Holy Spirit’s job), trying to grow the church (Christ said He would build his church), etc.  If it is all up us as ministers, what is there left for God to do?

Forgiveness is the answer to almost all of our distress.  All of our feelings (emotions) come from WITHIN us, not from outside our skin.  No one can make us feel any particular way.  Our main enemy is not flesh and blood but our beginnings (Eph. 6:12  principalities = arche which simply means beginnings), the things we inherited from our forefathers and what we experienced growing up.  The greatest enemy of our faith is our experience.  Our self image is a tremendous importance in all of this.  We must see ourselves as God sees us, holy, righteous and just like Christ (I John 4:17, Rom. 8:29).

Rev. E. Dixon Murrah, MA
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Director, Restoration Ministry