In the final segment of our Strength for Service series, Melissa offers two big mental shifts that can act as lifelines to us when a demanding season of service has us feeling "weary in doing good." We can't ignore our reality, but we can reframe it and use a more sustainable fuel source.
The Strength for Service series is best studied in the published order. If you missed earlier parts of this series, you can find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.
Scriptures used in this week’s video: Nehemiah 8:10, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Isaiah 40:28-31, Hebrews 12:2
Scriptures used in this week’s study guide: 2 Corinthians 12:10, Jeremiah 17:5-8, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Galatians 6:9, Mark 1:35, Mark 6:30–32, 1 Kings 19:4-8, Proverbs 17:1, Ecclesiastes 4:6, Exodus 18:17-23, Matthew 11:28–30
We’ve come to the final segment in our series on how we as Christians can serve with stamina and avoid burnout. Let’s quickly recap our journey.
What We’ve Learned Previously
In Part 1, we challenged the secular mantra, “You can’t pour from an empty cup,” which frames service as inherently depleting, and we contrasted it with Paul’s attitude of gladly being poured out for others. Part 2 addressed the missing piece of renewal: spiritual renewal, which we often neglect while pursuing physical and mental renewal. Parts 1 and 2 focused on shifting our mindset from a worldly view to a biblical view of service, and then in Parts 3, 4, and 5 the rubber met the road as we explored three roadblocks to sustainable service: perfectionism, misaligned priorities, and boundary problems.
A quick disclaimer: If you're struggling under enormous service burdens and haven't heard the first five parts, I recommend starting there. Depending on God's strength doesn't mean ignoring physical limits or accepting unsustainable circumstances. Sometimes we need to let go of perfectionism, reassess priorities, establish boundaries, or ask for help. This week's discussion may be less helpful until those practical changes within our control have been made.
Coming Full Circle
This week, I want to land the plane by returning to a reality we acknowledged in Part 1: Service can be fatiguing. We know we should shift our focus from how full our cup is toward gladly pouring ourselves out for others, but that shift can be difficult when we're Just. Feeling. Done.
Scripture tells us to not grow weary while doing good, but I think we all feel that from time to time, so I'd like to leave you with two ropes you can grab onto to avoid falling off the weariness cliff during challenging seasons of service.
Our theme for this week comes from Nehemiah 8:10. The Jewish exiles had returned to Jerusalem and listened to Ezra read the book of the Law. Realizing how far they'd strayed from God's truth, they wept; but God inspired Ezra to command them to rejoice, saying, “...this day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Although their circumstances differed from ours, I see two principles here that are applicable to our service: 1) We need to learn to rely on God’s strength instead of our own and 2) joy is fuel for consistent service.
1. Exchanging Our Propane Tanks
In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, God tells Paul, who is burdened by a thorn in the flesh, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul concludes, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me… For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
I just love that paradox. We often assume weakness is the enemy of effective service, but Paul presents it as prime real estate for fully embracing what God has to offer. Becoming painfully aware of our insufficiencies can drive us to our knees in dependence on Him. Consider Isaiah 40:28-31:
“The Creator of the ends of the earth neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
God’s always flipping human status quo on its head: Presenting our Savior as a lamb led to slaughter; bringing mountains low, exalting valleys, making crooked places straight, and as we read above, strengthening those who have no might.
I want to look more closely at the phrase, “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength,” and the Hebrew word translated renew. When I think of God renewing my strength, I tend to look at it like I’m a video game character who’s “life” bar has been slowly draining, and then I reach a power-up and see that bar go up as my life energy is restored. (I’m not a gamer, but that’s a thing, right??) But that’s not necessarily the best way to think of God renewing our strength. In other contexts, the word translated “renew”–the Hebrew word chalaph–can carry the idea of changing or replacing. I'm not a Hebrew scholar, so I’m not suggesting that the existing translation is a bad one, but exploring this verse with these alternate meanings gave me a fresh perspective.
Think about your car's gas tank running low. You fill it back up, renewing your supply with more of the same. Contrast that metaphor to running out of propane for your gas grill. You can’t just pour in more propane; you have to take it to the store and exchange (chalaph) it for a new tank. Now imagine that God sees your tank is empty and, instead of simply refilling it with more of the same fuel—your own strength—He replaces (chalaph) the tank with one powered by His strength!
This was a lightbulb moment for me. When my service fuel is running low, I can picture God removing the “Melissa” tank and replacing it with one full of His power. In that context, feeling depleted doesn’t mean I’ve come to the end; it's an opportunity to replace my strength with His! How encouraging is that mindset shift?!?
We can’t ignore fatigue, but we can reframe it as an opportunity to surrender and depend more fully on God. Granted, because I have His spirit, He's always working through me, even when I'm feeling strong; yet–let’s be real–when I believe I can handle something on my own, I don't always invite Him into my life in the same way. Recognizing our limits can cultivate the humility to pray sincerely, “God, Your grace really is sufficient for me. Right now I’m weak, but I know that You are strong, in and for me.”
2. Joy as Fuel
Let's return to the words, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Now, it’s not grammatically clear whether the emphasis is on our joy in God or God's joy, but either way, joy—a fruit of His Holy Spirit—can be used as fuel to sustain our service.
There are things other than joy that can be used as fuel for service. Fuels like obligation and duty certainly have their place, as they can help us to do the right thing when our feelings aren’t cooperating; however, I don’t see them as clean, sustainable fuel sources, because relying on them indefinitely produces pollution like resentment, bitterness, and burnout. When we serve with joy as our main fuel, we can avoid these unwanted byproducts.
“But Melissa,” you might say, “How do I muster up joy when I’m feeling totally burnt out?” I get it. Some people have an extremely hard road to walk, especially if they have intense caregiving roles. It can be hard to find joy when feeling crushed by the weight of our daily responsibilities, and for me, a healthy dose of wallowing and self-pity. But remember–the Israelites were encouraged to rejoice in the present, not wait until their sorrow had passed and everything felt right again. God expected them to rejoice in His Feasts despite their brokenness. This wasn't a call to pretend to be cheerful Pollyannas; it was an invitation to turn their attention toward the bigger picture of what God was doing.
When prolonged service leaves you weary, ask yourself, Where in this can I find joy to fuel me? For starters, there is certainly joy in knowing that our acts of love please God, that His will is being faithfully done, and that we are advancing His kingdom. Seeing your service bear fruits–even small ones–is something to rejoice about.
Since we’re called to die to ourselves, let’s look at what motivated Jesus to die for us. Hebrews 12:2 could say, “Christ fulfilled His duty by enduring the cross,” but instead it reads, “for the joy set before Him [He] endured the cross.” That didn’t mitigate His suffering, but it gave Him purpose. He showed that it’s possible to look beyond the immediate pain and power through something difficult because there was something very worthwhile on the other side. In other words, joy is a future-focused fuel that can power us through life’s hardest stretches.
This doesn't mean we'll always feel happy while serving. Sometimes we'll do difficult things through tears, weariness, or grief. But even when the work itself isn't enjoyable, we can find joy in knowing whom we're serving, why the work matters, and what God is accomplishing through our faithfulness.
One More Time…
Let me restate for emphasis the two ideas that bring our series full circle:
Our weaknesses can teach us to replace our strength with God’s strength.
Joy is the perfect fuel for sustained service.
This wraps up our Strength for Service series. I loved researching and sharing these Bible studies with you. I needed this as much as anyone and had many epiphanies along the way! I pray you feel encouraged that God can provide the strength you need to continue loving others through service.
