Burned out

[Marion]

I got into Christianity properly about 2 years ago, before that I would remember God when I felt desperate, and go to church on Christmas and Easter. Unfortunately, since then, I’ve been trying to find a church. I’ve tried church after church after church. Everywhere I felt excluded and left out. It got to the point where I felt so alone at my last one, I would cry myself to sleep the night before I went every week. I have stepped out and talked to people, but I always feel the fake smile of “hi, how are you today?”, the typical politeness, and that’s as far as it would get. I’ve stopped going. It’s a good sign I guess, because no one’s followed up on me since I’ve left (I attended for 3 and a half months).

I don’t have any friends that seem deeply involved with Christianity, they’re I guess casual Christians. One of them defined their relationship with God as “distant, but I know He’s there” when I brought the conversation up.

Not only that, God’s been quite silent over the past couple months since I left that church. I’ve prayed honestly. I’ve read my bible with whatever diligence I have left. But honestly, I’m starting to not care much. I don’t want to read the bible anymore. I’ve looked up spiritual burnouts, and it just feels like people are throwing my problem in my face. “Sin might separate you, pray more diligently. Read the Bible more. hang on, God’s up to something. Get involved with a church community.” I haven’t found any good encouragement. I’m going numb, to the point where I don’t want to talk to God anymore. You might say it’s a bit like Job. I don’t see any solutions there though. And then there’s Joseph. I don’t have the strength to hope anymore. Rom. 8:28 is beginning to sound really annoying. And I don’t want to talk to God, because giving up on Him would be “sin” and “worldly thinking” and I don’t want to talk to Him about it, because He’s been mostly silent for the most part.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t have a support system that can help me in this situation, and my own resources are running out. And God’s mostly silent.
I’ve reached a point where I don’t care, I am spiritually and emotionally exhausted, and I can see that, which is why I’m writing out for help. Matthew 11:28-30 just seems like an empty promise at this point. 

Any help would be great,
and if you don’t have any advice, could you please pray for me.

Thanks.

[GandalfTheWise]

4 hours ago, Marion said:

[Edited for space]

Any help would be great,
and if you don’t have any advice, could you please pray for me.

Thanks.

 

Each of us is a unique creation of God.  He made us all different from each other.   Our individual walks with God will be different than others' walks.  We each need to learn how prayer, bible reading, being with other Christians, and such things need to be in our own lives.  For some, a disciplined schedule and routine is fruitful and necessary.  For others, a regimented routine is draining and exhausting.  We each need to learn to walk with God how He made us to.  I have a pastor who has been on the same routine for decades.  He gets up, makes coffee, grabs his One-Year Bible, reads the day's reading, and then spends time in prayer and meditation on it. I'm a person who goes through seasons in life where I'll focus on one thing for perhaps 3 to 6 months and then I need to change what I am doing.  When I tried to be disciplined with a routine, it drained me and I was left frustrated and tired.  As it turns out, I've found that I can put very high levels of energy and focus onto particular things for a length of time, and then I need to move on to the next thing.  God just wired me so that I am at my best when I run at unsustainable levels of effort for a limited period of time, and then move to the next thing.   What works for me would not work well for most people.  What works well for my pastor would not work well for some people.

Often, spiritual burnout and frustration can simply be trying to live someone else's life instead of our own.  When we learn to walk with God as the individuals He made us as, prayer, Bible reading, ministry, being with other Christians, and other such things start to flow more naturally in our lives.  They become things that are a natural outflow of God's work in our lives.  They start becoming energizing and refreshing for us and not draining.

 

[TheMatrixHasU71]

4 hours ago, Yowm said:

I wouldn't base my relationship with God based on the failures I see in people, that would be a sure train wreck. Learn to base your relationship with Him based on who He is and what He did at Calvary for you.

I agree. Dont worry if people dont want to associate with you, what matters is that Christ loves you even if it appears that others dont. 

Also it sometimes seems to me if you want to be included you have to go to the people, dont wait for them to invite you.

[Hidden In Him]

11 hours ago, Marion said:

I got into Christianity properly about 2 years ago, before that I would remember God when I felt desperate, and go to church on Christmas and Easter. Unfortunately, since then, I’ve been trying to find a church. I’ve tried church after church after church. Everywhere I felt excluded and left out. It got to the point where I felt so alone at my last one, I would cry myself to sleep the night before I went every week. I have stepped out and talked to people, but I always feel the fake smile of “hi, how are you today?”, the typical politeness, and that’s as far as it would get. I’ve stopped going. It’s a good sign I guess, because no one’s followed up on me since I’ve left (I attended for 3 and a half months).

I don’t have any friends that seem deeply involved with Christianity, they’re I guess casual Christians. One of them defined their relationship with God as “distant, but I know He’s there” when I brought the conversation up.

Not only that, God’s been quite silent over the past couple months since I left that church. I’ve prayed honestly. I’ve read my bible with whatever diligence I have left. But honestly, I’m starting to not care much. I don’t want to read the bible anymore. I’ve looked up spiritual burnouts, and it just feels like people are throwing my problem in my face. “Sin might separate you, pray more diligently. Read the Bible more. hang on, God’s up to something. Get involved with a church community.” I haven’t found any good encouragement. I’m going numb, to the point where I don’t want to talk to God anymore. You might say it’s a bit like Job. I don’t see any solutions there though. And then there’s Joseph. I don’t have the strength to hope anymore. Rom. 8:28 is beginning to sound really annoying. And I don’t want to talk to God, because giving up on Him would be “sin” and “worldly thinking” and I don’t want to talk to Him about it, because He’s been mostly silent for the most part.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t have a support system that can help me in this situation, and my own resources are running out. And God’s mostly silent.
I’ve reached a point where I don’t care, I am spiritually and emotionally exhausted, and I can see that, which is why I’m writing out for help. Matthew 11:28-30 just seems like an empty promise at this point. 

Any help would be great,
and if you don’t have any advice, could you please pray for me.

Thanks.

I would agree with Gandalf here. Good counsel involves finding out exactly how He made you, and what things are most important to helping you fulfill your calling in Christ Jesus.

For some, fellowship with others is deeply important. For others, not so much. We are all made different, but if good fellowship with other believers is vitally important to you, just rest assured that He will provide it for you if you keep asking Him to with all your heart, even if it means just getting to know people at this website for now. 

That having been said, let me encourage you that God sends the Holy Spirit as our Teacher, and if you ask Him to begin teaching you, I can promise you He will. Many just go through the motions of trying to pick up the Bible and read through it. But without asking the Teacher to explain it to you, this often just results in very dry study times where your mind wanders off into things that happened yesterday, or things you need to do tomorrow, or would prefer to be doing today. Just focus for little bit on spending some time in prayer (maybe a few days) asking Him to become your Teacher and lead you to places (in scripture, on TV or radio, or even in the real world) where you can receive genuine revelation from God that quickens your spirit, lets you know He is active in your life, and gives you personal exhortation to lift your heart and spirit. Also spend the time in prayer telling Him exactly what you are telling us: How you now feel burned out. Trust me, you will not offend Him because He knows where you're at already. Ultimately, He probably has just been waiting for you to turn to Him this whole time, knowing that those you were with were not able to help you much anyway.

So take heart. Even very strong saints of God go through periods where they experience similar things. Sometimes it comes through spiritual oppression. But the trick is to wait Satan out in such instances, because he can't keep it up forever. The dark clouds eventually part and the sun comes out again.

God bless, and welcome to Worthy. If you should need any help or mentoring, please post any of us in private. There are several strong believers here who would be more than glad to help you out.   

[Bonnie76]

Welcome to Worthy.....dont let go. there are good people who will encourage you.

[Debp]

Some great advice given by the others.

Also, remember you can talk to the Lord about your feelings of burnout or not caring, etc.  The Lord still loves you and understands you.

[Justin Adams]

Great advice for you here. B-O-B is quite horrible. Burn Out Blues.

I have read Jeremiah sometimes to get a handle on the stuff that happens and how we feel. I do understand a little of what you feel. Some might say that growing roots sometimes makes the leaves a little pale.

As somebody said, talk it over with the Lord. Others will say that if you draw near to God He will do likewise.
Problem is, we want everything to happen in a New York minute. Whereas the Lord may just take a little time. 

Because we are social animals, we often wrongly look for affirmation from others. This will most often than not lead to a 'train-wreck' as previously suggested. After all, we have to keep telling ourselves that the Lord will require an accounting of ourselves individually and not what somebody said about us.

It will be between us and the Lord in the final analysis. He knows you know this, yet sometimes He wants to reinforce this idea so we will ONLY look to Him in trust and reliance.

[Goldie]

Be strong. I understand EXACTLY how you are feeling. I am feeling the same myself. But, have faith. Whatever happens in life. Have faith in God. Keep telling God you love him.

God bless you

[Road Warrior]

Marion, prayin for ya bud

[Marilyn C]

On ‎3‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 8:11 PM, Marion said:

 

Any help would be great,
and if you don’t have any advice, could you please pray for me.

Thanks.

Hi Marion,

Pleased to meet you. Now my mother had that lovely name - Marion. I quite understand and feel for you. A lot of us over here in Aussie are meeting more one on one or in small groups. We find that much more friendly and worthwhile. we are able to share, study and pray, learning what the Lord is teaching us in every day life.

If you would like to PM me then please do and perhaps we can share life`s journey together.

all the best, Marilyn.