Monday, November 13, 2006
Passion & Rest
Experiencing my first burn out as a fervent believer barely a year into the journey of following Christ, my cell leader gave me a book--Renewing Your Spiritual Passion (or some title like that). I remember this teaching. Each person has 3 tanks--spiritual, emotional and physical. Our daily duties will cause the tanks to deplete, so we need to be disciplined in filling them up. Pretty simple, like gas for a car. To fill the physical tank, you'll need to sleep and do some physical activity. To fill the emotional tank, you'll need to have your hobbies, close friends to talk to and recreate. To fill the spiritual tank, you'll need to get alone with Jesus, read the Bible, pray in the Spirit, etc. - Very very important people - your mentors, Pauls, when you meet them, you are so filled up, so encouraged and can see how to move forward. +++ to your tank
- Very important people - peers with you in your passion, Barnabases, when you meet them, you are also highly encouraged to move forward. ++ to your tank
- Very trainable people - your mentees, Timothies, when you meet them, you are so encouraged by their teachability, their yieldedness to the cause you're pursuing. + to your tank
- Very nice people - pew warmers, those who tell you they follow you and admire you, etc, but little action on their part, many of those who claim they love you and are loyal to you can fall in this category depending on how much of what you say is being applied to their lives. Too much time with these dilutes your passion. 0 to your tank
- Very draining people - broken wings, eternal complainers, Extra Grace Required, broken record of their problems on and on and on, the world owes them something. Some people just have hurts and can't help it, but they are - to your tank.
All this discussion revolves around filling your tank. While it's not nice to tell pple they belong to your category 4 and 5, in ministry, we must be clear where people stand with us, because if we don't keep ourselves in good health, we're not going to be able to be used to help anyone at all.
Do guard your time with groups 1-3, because they usually don't come demanding for your time as much as groups 4 and 5. With time, grace, anointing and in the right appointment of God, groups 4 and 5 can shift to become group 3.
Another good reflection when we read this kind of thing is to ask ourselves, who are we group 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to? Try not to be group 4 or 5. The really quality people are those who are groups 1-3 to most people in their lives. Those in group 5 should go to encounter, discipline their minds and fast and pray and wipe the floor with their tears to get Jesus to heal them. I know how it feels, I was there...
It's a marathon... go get it!
