Burnout -Light Affliction

Plumbers never get burnout because of expectations.
The reason pastors get burnout is because their expectations are not realistic.
Burnout!
Certain principles of Scripture are God’s weapons to turn back the Enemy’s assaults.
When these truths are in your life they take away the demons ability to torment.
Satan uses certain tools; remove those tools and you take power away from all evil!
TAKING POWER FROM THE ENEMY
A. Y’all remember the joke about the lady praying for groceries
. There was a poor woman who lived next door to an atheist. He often mocked her faith and
derided her as misguided and having an “imaginary friend.”
. One day he overheard her praying for some groceries. He went out and bought a couple of
sacks of groceries and put them on her porch first thing in the morning, and stood nearby.
. She opened the door, saw the groceries, and exclaimed, “Praise God, He’s answered my
prayers!”
. He stepped out and said smugly, “It wasn’t God that overheard you and bought those
groceries, it was me that did that! Ha!” She said, “Then I praise God even more!” “What for,” he
said?
. “Because not only did He provide me groceries but that He made the devil pay for them!”
: Eph. 5:20 “In everything give thanks.”
I. WHEN YOU FEEL DISCOURAGED
A. MANY BIBLE CHARACTERS BECAME DISCOURAGED
WHAT IS DISCOURAGEMENT?
1. Robs you of faith
2. Beats you down
3. Destroys your effectiveness for God then you give up
4. Blinds our eyes to the grace of God and makes you see
only the unfavorable circumstances.
C. SOME OF YOU FEEL LIKE:
1. I just don’t see any hope for my situation.
2. God has forsaken me; doesn’t care about me.
3. I can’t face these circumstances any more.
4. I feel like quitting.
D. IT MAY COMFORT YOU TO KNOW:
1. Many of the greatest Bible characters became discouraged but not burned out
a. Moses – In Sinai desert
b. Elijah – when Jezebel sought his life
c. David – When Absalom rebelled against him.
2. The same feelings you feel they also experienced.
a. Paul – Acts 27:20; “We gave up all hope of being saved.”
b. Isa. 49:14; “Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me”
c. Elijah – “O Lord, Take away my life, for I am no better than my Fathers” 1 Kgs. 19:4
There are certain principles of Scripture that are God’s weapons to turn back the Enemy’s
assaults. When these truths are in your life they take away hell’s ability to torment:
II. PRINCIPLES FOR VICTORY
A. IT IS A LIGHT AFFLICTION
2 Cor. 4:16-17 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet
inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving
for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
1. Revelation in the inner man withstands the outward events and circumstances. How? It’s a
revelation.
2. God only has to flip a switch in your spirit so that you look at things differently than you did
before – the afflictions are temporary. And because you perceive it differently, it is to you.
3. [Let every man be a liar but God be true. Who shall we believe? Man or God? God! Even if it
defies all our senses.]
B. AFFLICTIONS…THEY ARE “WORKING FOR YOU”! 2 Cor. 4:17, KJV.
1. It may look bad, smell bad, etc., but God says it’s “working for you”.
2. That takes the sting away.
C. GOD IS FAITHFUL
1. I’ve been to the edge of the cliff so many times…thus I can attest that “God is faithful”.
Illustration :A guy’s car got wrecked; He said, “I took it to the body shop. The body man beat
on it. He poked a long pick into the dint, punched a hole, and pulled it out. “Hey, don’t do that,
you’re hurting my car!” He, like God, answers, “Son, I know what I’m doing”. (Us and God)
3. You know how to become more thankful for something? Lose it! Lose your job, lose your old
junker car, break your hip, lose a loved one, etc. God knows how to improve our attitude about
the things we complain about.
4. Joyce Meyers has a book entitled, “Enjoying where you are on the way to where you’re
going.”
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
E. WHEN YOU FEEL OVERWHELMED BY LIFE’S CIRCUMSTANCES
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not
let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide
a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Cor. 10:13
F. WHEN YOU FEEL YOUR LABORS ARE IN VAIN
1. 1 Cor. 15:58 “Your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
2. Gal. 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a
harvest if we do not give up.”
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. A boy was walking down a street with a stick. A vicious dog came charging up behind a
fence, barking and snarling, going wild as the boy was walking by. When the boy saw the
reaction of the dog, he walked back by and purposefully drug his stick across the bars of the
fence. The dog went berserk with fury. The boy liked the ridiculous response, so he walked
down the fence again dragging his stick.
2. Similarly, when we respond to tribulation with terror, hell will pour it on even more.
EXHORTATION
1. Let’s take power away from hell. “Let’s torment Paul!” “How?” “We’ll torment him either in
life or by death! But Paul said, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” In either situation, power
was taken away from hell!
2. He delivers you from 6, yeah 7….
3. What began with a purpose to harm, will conclude with a purpose of good. Romans 8:28.
4. When you remove the tools the enemy can use against you, you take power away from hell.
Close
1. How many of you have been going through a battle? Let’s get victory over it today!
2. How many of you have had some discouragements? Let us pray for you! The Bible says that
those who are strong should pray for those who are week.
Next Sunday the shoe could be on the other foot, and those week today be strong for us!