AT THE WATER’S EDGE:

My chiropractor said something interesting the other day. We were talking about the holidays and taking time off and what rest looks like. He told me that he knew a pastor that spoke life changing words to him once. The pastor said something like, “I don’t believe in burnout. If you are doing God’s will, He will supply the energy to do the work.”

That got me thinking. I’ve been hearing a lot about burnout lately, perhaps even feeling burnt out myself. When you lack energy and motivation to do the things you’re doing, it should give you pause. What are those symptoms telling you?  I agree with the second half of the pastor’s statement, but I think it deserves some exploration. I think burnout is a real thing — but it makes sense to me that it’s something we experience when we are somehow misaligned with God’s will. I said that to the chiropractor with no pun intended, but since that was the context, let’s go with that analogy. The spine is your lifeline, or so I have heard it said. It is critical both structurally and functionally for the rest of your body. When it’s out of alignment, you feel pain, weakness, numbness, stiffness, inflexibility or any number of other ailments that may stem from the compression of nerves. What happens when we are out of spiritual alignment? Perhaps depression, fatigue, lack of motivation, hopelessness, the feeling that something is missing or even physical and emotional pain from the consequences of our choices.

It strikes me that there are two ways in which we may be misaligned spiritually. One is a misalignment of our aim. I’ve been listening a lot to podcasts and lectures from Jordan Peterson over the past couple of years. He frequently uses the phraseology that we need to make sure that our aim is true, that we need to aim upward, at that which is the highest good. In the Christian worldview, that would be God, and His will and His purpose. If we are aiming at something that is not the highest good — even if it is a virtuous goal (think back to Mary and Martha), we are misaligned.

Other times, I think perhaps our end goal is correct, but it’s the posture or the attitude of the heart that is misaligned. Think to the Israelites in the desert on their way to the Promised Land. God wanted to bring them to the land flowing with milk and honey. The Israelites wanted to get there. At least, initially. But their attitude was atrocious. Despite being delivered out of the hands of Pharoh and witnessing incredible miracles, there was constant grumbling and mistrust. There’s not enough water. There’s not enough food. There’s not the right kind of food. The people and cities are too big to conquer. It’s too hard. They grumbled to the point that they convinced themselves that their aim was off and they’d be better off as slaves back in Egypt! If you believe you are doing the thing that God called you to do, and you are not feeling energized, perhaps it’s because you’re not doing it with the right attitude of the heart. I know I have been there. In fact, I think I’ve been camped there for a long time. Right outside the Promised Land, wondering why this desert life is so hard when I know I’m on the right path. It’s my posture. Am I embracing the challenges as adventure and valuing the lessons they teach? Or am I idolizing comfort and ease? Am I focused on what I have to be grateful for? Or do I spurn God’s gifts because it’s not the gift I asked for? If we focus on the fact that manna is bland, boring and monotonous, we forget that we are being fed bread from heaven.

So, what do we do? First, get aligned to the Truth. Then, move forward in a proper posture. The Truth and the highest good is found in God’s Word. So, that means immersing yourself in Scripture, being prayerfully attentive to His leading, knowing what God says and letting that be at the forefront, as God commanded the Israelites:

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” – Deuteronomy 8:5-7

Let God direct your steps by putting Him first in all you do and hiding His word in your heart. What do you suppose happens when we thus align ourselves with the Truth? The passage the comes to mind for me is the Road to Emmaus. After Jesus’ resurrection, he appears to two travelers as they were walking toward a village called Emmaus. He kept himself from being recognized by them, but walked with them and joined their conversation about what had happened to Jesus. Jesus talked with them the rest of the way and explained to them what the Scriptures said concerning himself. He ended up eating dinner with them and when he broke bread, their eyes were opened to recognize him and he disappeared.

“They asked each other, ‘were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’” – Luke 24:32

Have you ever experienced that? Where your spirit is so aligned to the Truth that you can feel it burning within you? It is a spiritual energy that gives rise to joy, motivation, determination and the desire to worship. The times I have felt that were in those moments of conversation or prayer or study of Scripture that is so honest and true and revelatory — that it brings one to a raw understanding of and alignment to Truth. And science backs this up, too. I heard this quote in a podcast the other day regarding our striving toward something higher:

“If you look at this neuropharmacologically and biologically, what you see is that the systems that fill us with enthusiasm (so that’s the spirit of God in the etymological sense sense), are the same systems that mark our progress toward a destination of value. So there’s a direct concordance neurologically between the degree to which you are aiming up a steep pinnacle, your movement towards that upper aim and the degree to which you’re filled with enthusiasm and positive emotion and that also regulates negative emotion, suffering and anxiety.” (Jordan Peterson, excerpt from Exodus: Episode 2, 2022)

Your body was actually designed to give you energy and enthusiasm and to dissipate anxiety when you take steps toward accomplishing something of value.

What then if we are suffering from poor spiritual posture? We are called to take Christ’s yoke upon us — which is supposed to be easy and a light burden to carry (Matthew 11:30). If we do not take upon ourselves the attitude of Christ — who, remember, made Himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant (Philippians 2:7) — then we will not experience our burdens in the manner He has called us to. How do we fix our spiritual posture?  What comes to mind for me is this passage from Ephesians:

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” –Ephesians 4:22-24

Be made new in the attitude of our minds. That sounds a lot like a spiritual adjustment to me. Romans 12 goes a bit further:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” — Romans 12:2

We are not to have in mind the things of this world, but the things of heaven. Renewing our minds in that way brings transformation. That’s turning grumbling to gratitude. Anxiety to trust. Bitterness to forgiveness. Self-righteousness to humility. And did you catch what happens then? We will be able to test and approve what God’s will is. We come full circle to being able to have confidence that we are pursuing the highest aim, that we are following our calling — and it will be good and pleasing, not a tiresome burden.

What do you think? Is burnout a result of spiritual misalignment? When have you felt fully energized and confident that you were on the right path? If your burden feels heavy, could it be your spiritual posture that is weighing you down? Give a spiritual adjustment a try — sure up your aim and check your posture — and see what happens next.