The stress of life and the intense schedule we seek to keep in today’s culture can lead to feelings of burnout. “Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion from prolonged or excessive stress, often from work but also from caregiving or other life demands, leading to loss of motivation, feelings of hopelessness, cynicism, and reduced effectiveness.” This phenomenon, once limited to workaholics is becoming more apparent in our day to day lives as we deal with uncertainty and divisiveness in our society.
As part of our Advent celebration, we focus on hope. In Romans 15:4-6, Paul writes, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
E. Stanley Jones made a simple, yet profound statement that has stayed with me for many years: “What has your attention, has you.” Where we put our focus and our energy affects how we live our lives. Paul speaks to the truth of learning from our ancestors in the faith and placing our focus on Jesus, so that we can have endurance and encouragement that leads to hope. When we try to conjure up hope and speak hope into our lives without a focus on Jesus, we only gain a temporary hope that is susceptible to being more easily overcome. Paul later writes, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). Our hope overflows when it comes from the Holy Spirit at work in our lives—when we are focused on Jesus.
There is a lot happening in our nation and our world in this Advent season. It could be that you are experiencing hopelessness and some of the other symptoms of burnout. You have become cynical and frustrated with the present condition of our nation and our world. It is easy to become complacent and lack feeling in this time. The invitation we receive is to lean into the truth of our ancestors who faced adversity, struggle, frustration, and hopelessness. Yet, they continued to persevere, enduring the present moment knowing that in Christ we find our hope. In this Advent season, let us place our focus back on Jesus knowing that through the power of the Holy Spirit, hope will overflow in our hearts and flow out into our community, state, nation, and world.
Prayer: Lord, forgive me for losing my focus on you. I want your hope in my life. I surrender my focus. Guide me and guard my eyes and heart to stay focused on you. I want your hope to overflow from my heart to the lives of people around me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.