Love Affair

Anyone who does anything is familiar with the idea of burn-out. You know, the state of doing something so much that no matter how much you love doing it, you've grown tired and can even come to a point of discontentment.

If you are a part of a ministry (aren't we all?) then you've probably heard some horror stories from the burn victims of church volunteer groups, and probably heard even more tips and ideas on how to deal with burn-out....so here's one more metaphor that might help you with burnout....

Consider the first time that you met your spouse/significant other. At some point, you realized, "Hey, I should get to know this person, he/she's pretty cool." You then develop a relationship and start to imagine all the great things that relationship could be. It's awesome at first, and you start to spend more and more time with that person. Well, some people spend too much time together at first, and start to grow sick of each other (You see where I'm going with this). This, is burn out...

Now, picture the moment you found God. You realized that He is right there and always has been. You think to yourself "Self, this whole Jesus guy is pretty awesome and I have got to get to know him better." Soon enough, God starts to give you tremendous ideas about a ministry for you to work with or even start. You begin working on this idea so much and you invest so much time that you forget what it was that brought you there in the first place:

God's love for you.

I recently went through this situation, and I realized that I need to get back to my simple love for God. Not that ministry is bad or that it needs to be abandoned, but don't forget the honeymoon stage of your love for God.

Don't be afraid to cheat on your ministry with a few nights in the presence of the LORD.