Thoughts From Gary Thomas

Dear Friends,

I do not know if you have ever experienced burnout, but it’s not fun. It sneaks up on you and you are in the midst of it without many prior warning signs. It can be rather crippling, so one must be careful about whose advice they choose to follow. Well-meaning people can give advice that seems wise – and may work at other times – but not when one is in the throes of burnout.

Today’s ‘thought’ is from author Gary Thomas and comes from his book, “Pure Pleasure.” It seems like an odd book title to find a topic about as opposite from pleasure as one can get, but I believe he is right. Enjoy.

Marshalling the Power of Pleasure
“One of the deepest pieces of spiritual advice I’ve ever heard came from the pen of the famed nineteenth-century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon: “Hundreds of spiritual ills could be solved with a good night of sleep,” he wrote. Spurgeon meant that the answer often isn’t “spiritual” at all; it’s practical. Do you feel depressed? Tired? Burned-out? Instead of “praying and fasting” for a solution, have you ever considered getting more rest?

Clinical counselor Douglas Weiss gives a marvelous example in his book “The Power of Pleasure.” During his work with a school superintendent who felt depressed and burned-out, Doug realized the guy had almost no pleasure in his life. He lived for work, duty, and responsibility. After talking about his past, Weiss discovered that this man had warm memories from his childhood in a rather poor Alabama neighborhood where most of the cars were pretty old and in need of frequent repair. So, every evening the men on the block would gather to replace batteries, pull spark plugs, or change brake pads.

This superintendent, stuffed in a building for nine hours a day, overseeing people instead of talking to them about sports and life in general, felt as though he were melting in the midst of his responsibilities… Therefore, he had some simple choices to make: go on antidepressant medications, quit his job, or learn to build an appropriate amount of pleasure into his already-busy workweek. The superintendent wisely went home, called a cousin who had purchased a kit car the year before but had barely started working on it and made a weekly appointment to begin earnestly building the car together.

It was that easy. The depression lifted and the superintendent discovered renewed energy. By making a small once-a-week investment in pleasure, he became more pleasant at home, more energetic at work, and a much happier person. (This in NOT to call into question a clinically diagnosed case of depression needing treatment with appropriate medication. Yet even when medication is necessary, lifestyle changes always form a part of recovery.) Instead of seeking out the latest guru for spiritual advice, I’m calling you to first try something simple: Become more intentional about marshalling the power of pleasure in your life. Respecting this God-designed need will ultimately make you happier, healthier, and more effective in your calling and ministry.

Denying yourself healthy forms of pleasure for a significant period of time not only puts you at risk, it decreases your joy and usually lessens your energy, abilities, and faithfulness. We become like dull saws, poor imitations of how sharp we used to be. It’s not more effort that will get the job done; in fact it will just make things worse. We need to take the time to get sharpened.

Is your marriage flagging? Well, when did you last have fun together? When did you last put effort into your sexual relationship, or simply spend a few hours doing something both of you enjoy? Have you lost touch with your teenager? Why not do something together that makes you laugh? Don’t lecture her. Don’t counsel him. Don’t do anything but enjoy being around them. For just one evening, or one weekend, make it all about fun… For your sake, for God’s sake, for your family’s sake, for the sake of everyone who has to put up with your self-inflicted state of misery, get some pleasure going! Begin viewing temptation as an indication that your life might have shrunk and that you need to expand it in a practical, physical sense (while not completely ignoring the spiritual issues). In short, whenever you begin to sense the allure of sinful pleasure, it’s time to find a holy and healthy alternative…

Without healthy forms of pleasure, some of us can become angry and tired, feeling unappreciated, and then begin to resent others instead of loving them. Others can become judgmental, pointing out the sinful (“lazy”?) ways of everyone around us, perhaps secretly wishing we could do the same things. Pleasure can be a powerful antidote for these spiritual ills. It can renew and refresh us so that we become more patient, more energized, and more generous with our time and affection. So, Satan understandably wants to keep us from true pleasure because he hates its positive effects.”

Burnout is the affliction of idealistic, responsible, hard-working, overly-committed, achievement-oriented, and confident people, because they can tend to overestimate their own abilities and internal resources. In my first church (not wanting to fail God and mistakenly thinking it all depended on me) I fell into this trap. I got to the point of feeling I needed to quit the ministry entirely and I was only five years into it. And I do not exaggerate when I say the only thing that “saved” me was one solitary verse from the Bible: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength – but you would have none of it” (Isaiah 30:15).

In our “can do,” “make a name for yourself,” and “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” society, it’s not hard to mis-judge even godly priorities and overestimate our stamina and abilities – shrugging off warnings from friends or spouses who tell us we should consider slowing down a bit. If you’ve heard that advice from a few people, maybe it’s time to stop and think – is my life lacking in the area of healthy pleasure, fun, recreation, and rest? If the answer is yes, you now know a wise remedy.

Looking to the God who can raise the dead – or those who feel that way, Pastor Jeff