The one who works hours tirelessly serving at a food bank, only to give up when she’s burnt out all her kindness and has nothing left for her family. The one who starts an interfaith group, only to find unexpected racism buried deep in himself. The one who decides to live by Jesus’ words, but closes off when he gets closer to nervous breakdown than spiritual awakening. Recognise this pattern? Running headfirst into the compassionate life we think Jesus wants, and falling flat on our faces because it’s…just…too much. Compassion fatigue.
What’s going on here? Well, it could be that we’ve mistaken what Jesus is inviting us to. We hear ‘list of things to do!’, when what Jesus offers instead is a life of continually coming back to ground ourselves in relationship with the Father. And from that place, we calm ourselves. And from that rest, we look at ourselves and see what needs to change. When we work tirelessly, we think we’re honouring God with the best of what we’ve got, but it could be that we’re really not. But when we’ve got back to the core of who we are (children loved by a heavenly Dad), then we’re able to jump into any situation with a whole new energy. Philippians 4:13 tells us we ‘can do all things’ – but only through ‘Christ who helps’. Jesus invites us to surrender to Him, then guides us to a balance between work and rest.
What now?
Just…sit down. Okay, that’s difficult. But just sit down and rest in God’s loving presence for a while.
