Introduction: Burnout & Faithfulness

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Welcome to the Monday Morning Men podcast. Our goal with this podcast is to bridge the gap between your Sunday morning sermon and your Monday morning everyday life. We are two dudes that just love the word and love Jesus and want to help you walk out your faith in a practical way each week. Um my name is Josh Swart. I'm here with Thomas Dellinger. And if you've got questions, prayer requests, got topics that you want us to cover, email us at info at mondaymorningmen.com. And if you know somebody that needs to hear this message, would be blessed by it, share it. It's a real blessing to us and to others to know that you have a friend that you care about. Because sometimes these messages are not they're not easy. They're not easy pills to swallow. Like walking out our faith on an on a daily basis isn't something that is easy.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

No, it's not. It's sanctifying. It is sanctifying. I had a message one time sent to me by a buddy, and I actually asked afterwards. I was like, is there a particular reason you sent this to me? So I get it. I get it that there's like this kind of pretext that let's not break the microphones. Sorry. Uh a little pretext to whenever you hear a message, you're like, are they thinking about me? Is there something specific? So I get it. But we do appreciate it if you share it.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Oh, they will, they will know. They will know. They will know. Yeah. Uh all right. This morning we're talking about not growing weary. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

I thought we're, I mean, a couple months into this now. Um, which, if you're still listening, I have no idea. It might just be three people listening to this. Maybe nobody. That's okay. Uh we're we'll we're gonna be faithful with with what God's laid on our hearts. But if you're listening to it, we're really grateful. But I thought it would be really important to kind of uh just talk about this because if you're practicing or if you're trying to work on some of the things, hopefully we all are. Every single day we're getting sanctified, every day we're trying to walk in obedience. But in that, just like any sort of physical activity or any sort of growth, it's easy to hit a plateau, or even worse, it feels like you're going backwards. Um, you know, I don't know, or if you're on a weight loss diet or whatever it is, anything practical, it's easy to see how you could be um how you don't look like you're progressing forward. So we're, you know, two months in, you're trying to work on stuff.

You're Always Growing Something

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Maybe even at the beginning, we're still talking about prayer and some things. I I think about even the things that I'm working on. Look, this is life, guys. I will never forget. I had a man, um, he's probably 65. He was at my dad's church. And afterwards, he got some of the young men around some teenagers. And he said, Men, I just want you to know that the temptation to lust or that that ability to do that, he goes, I want you to know that you never outgrow it. He said, Temptation lies at the door even at 65. And he goes, It's what we do every single day. You know, we get up daily and die, right? You know, we lay our lives down. So for you guys, if you're feeling maybe um unmotivated, I mean you're motivated enough to listen to this and we're grateful. But at the same time, maybe there's some motivation because the reality is that we're always trying to move forward. We're naturally trying to conquer, we're naturally warriors. But if we don't feel like we're conquering or taking dominion in a place, um it's super frustrating for us. It can be a place of, you know, where we just are like, are we even going to put the effort in anymore? Or are we gonna stop? It can lead to some burnout. Lots of different thoughts on that. Um, for me, uh the reason I actually had wanted to talk about this message, there are things in my marriage that I'm continuing to work on, just so you know, even if we're talking here, I have far not arrived, and my wife is one that keeps me sanctified. And I struggle just even like emotionally connecting with her. It's just a lot of work. And if you're listening to this, I'm you probably can relate if you're a man. And she looked at me the other day and she goes, I feel like I'm not seeing improvement. And I remember this was a couple weeks ago, and I remember thinking, well, that one that hurts because I feel like I've made the effort and I feel like I've made some improvements. But to her, right, this is not always the case. Like she doesn't always see that. And so now I'm feeling and you know, man, okay, do I even try? I mean, like I'm trying, I'm really trying to emotionally connect, and it's not, I'm not being appreciated in that moment. This leads to burnout. All of a sudden, my kind of my metric of what I think is success in this moment is is kind of skewed. And it's important that we understand this because this is the way our our Christian walk is. There's times that we look at I'm like, man, I got angry again at my kids. Like I just wanted to yell. Like, I mean, I take three steps backwards, but we're not to grow weary and well-doing. Um, and it's one of those things I just want to talk about. Hey, as you guys are working about this, just a quick little encouragement, you know, episode to kind of like why we do what we do and just kind of things that I want to remind us of. And remember, too, that like Jesus was he walked this earth, he had the exact same temptations and emotions and feelings that we had, and he did not sin. So he understands that we can grow weary in it. There's a reason he even communicates this. He knows our spirits and the things that we struggle with. So, in that, we'll we'll turn to what Paul writes into Galatians. So, Galatians 6, 7 through 10. We're just gonna read this passage and then kind of walk through

Why Spiritual Growth Feels Slow

SPEAKER_00 5:56

it. And it's the verse that everybody knows when it comes to this kind of the saying. Uh, do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For what for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life, and let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, especially to those who are of the household of faith. It's that kind of don't grow weary and well-doing is also referenced in First Thessalonians uh three thirteen. Um, so what I just want to do real quick for this episode, it's not gonna be a super long one, just break down the passage and just kind of let God speak to us and see what he's saying about this as we're trying to walk in some encouragement to continue to press forward and to not grow weary or burnt out as we try to continue to let our sanctification be walked out. So, verse seven, do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Uh, we talked about an episode about hypocrisy, but you know, we think about even hypocrisy, it's easy to like there, there's this um idea that we have the knowledge we're being hypocritical. Sometimes we don't. Sometimes it's self-deception. We're not disingenuous people. It's it we're not a disingenuous faith. We don't serve him for salvation, but our service is our evidence of our salvation. So it's important to realize like, we don't, it's not saving us. Your sanctification, as you walk this out, you're not going, hey, look, God, I earned my way to heaven. Quite the contrary, there's lots of verses we're working through Romans as a family uh right now in our family devotions. Just read Romans, that'll correct your thinking real fast. But just note that as the evidence of our salvation and our sanctification, we do want to continue to walk this out. And there's consequences if we don't. Like if we realize, look, if we're truly genuinely repentant and we're walking out our sanctification and we are not being faithful to walk in obedience, there are consequences, which is found right there at the back half of verse seven into verse eight. For whatsoever one sows, he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the spirit from the spirit reap eternal life. We talked about this way back in the beginning. That we are a garden. You're growing something, guys. Like you're growing something. Even if you're not doing anything, there that you're feeding into a spirit of apathy or laziness, right? You're growing every time you do something, it's attributing to something to you. So it's either wholesome or it's detrimental to your soul, whatever it is, there's no middle ground, there's no lukewarmness with God. You're growing something. We need to understand that everything has an effect for the good or the bad. So just if you think to yourself,

Trace's Trash Can Business & Invisible Faithfulness

SPEAKER_00 8:45

hey, I'm I've got some burnout here, and so I'm not gonna do it, just know you've made a decision for the opposite. There's no middle ground here. Verse nine, and let us not grow weary of doing good. There's like this understanding that if we we naturally think if we can't see the fruit, we must not have it must not be impacting to us or to others. And yet scripture is saying that everything's affecting us. So our natural, you know, instinct is like if we don't see six pack abs, then going to the gym is worthless, right? And it and it takes like understanding that we evaluate our growth based on our obedience, not on our impact, and realize those results are up to God, and realize that the fruit of our life is like it should be evident just based on our obedience, and don't worry about what the perception is, even of other people. Because I will tell you this like that perception, and I'll just this story came to mind. Uh, my son runs a little trash can business. He takes the trash cans out from people's houses, rolls them out of the street. Brilliant. It he's yeah, he's loving it, he's making good money. Well, he was he was a franchise that everybody. I know it's a I mean, I hate it. When he started doing it, I was like, I love that he does that. For me, I don't have to think about it. But it's funny, he does a great job, it takes an in and out, and I had to do it for him this week while he was out of town, which I found I hated. So I was doing it for all these neighbors, and it took me a long time. And then I thought back to as when he started the business, that everybody loves it, they're very complimentary of him. But the reality is, is nobody thinks about it. The only time they realize of a job how well he's doing the job is when he does it. Like if he forgets to take out your trash can, there are huge consequences to that. Now your trash is two weeks behind. Yeah. Thankfully, it's only happened like twice out of two years. But when it happens, it's a big deal. Yeah. So when we think about like this kind of passage, it's easy to get burnt out and we don't see the faithfulness happening behind. We only see the one moment, like that quick little, oh, you missed it. Now we're all in trouble. For my wife, she's like, Hey, you haven't emotionally connected with me in three days. And I'm like, But the week before I did it every single day. I was killing it. But all the the reminder is we don't see the faithfulness that's behind. It's just the way we're wired, unfortunately. But we got to remember that ultimately, if we don't give up, which we find this, you know, in verse nine, for in due season, we will reap if we do not give up. And that reaping may not come from even like Trey's customers may not really appreciate that they're he's taking out the garbage all the time. But

God's Word Never Returns Void (Isaiah 55)

SPEAKER_00 11:20

the his faithfulness and diligence that he's building in his life right now will affect him down the road in a beautiful way. God's communicate, communicating our heart disposition, which is to have trust and faith that he will work it out for our good. We have to trust that our works will never return void, which by the way, listen to this. This is Isaiah 55, 11. Remember, I just love how scripture is always full full circle. When everything comes full circle in a moment, it's easy for like a speaker or preacher. And I know because I've I speak and I've written, it's like, oh, this connects so well. Well done. And you kind of like pat yourself on the back, and then you just remember, hey idiot, you didn't write it. Like, like God is full, God knows exactly. He makes everything connect. He has this beautiful tapestry of grace and interwoven. And this verse is amazing. We talked about a garden, we're growing something. Listen to this. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish. Garden, guys, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater. So is my word that it goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You are a garden, you are growing something, you are sowing something, and you trust that he has the results. So you're not to grow weary and well doing, it will return back to you.

Practical Steps for Fighting Burnout

SPEAKER_00 12:42

This is the final verse in the passage. Um, and it contains kind of how we're gonna walk this out this week. Just some application that you can apply as you're as you're trying to think to yourself, man, I really want to grow my sanctification, but I'm kind of burnt out. My wife's not seeing any sort of growth in me. And and that'll be the first person who'll probably point that out to you, uh, or your kids. So, verse 10. So then as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, especially to those who are the household of faith. We have faith and trust and hope and God's promises, and then we just do it. It's that simple. Like if you're looking for a message that is gonna wow you with, oh, I never thought about it. That's what I've been doing wrong. No, you're doing it right. It's just a lot of work. This is just simply here to encourage you. We have to have that right disposition, that heart posture that says he is good and he's faithful, but in that disposition, then we walk out in obedience. So here's just kind of a couple of quick ways that we can do that as you think about this and apply this today. It's Monday, I know. I'm tired. Josh is tired, we're not getting great sleep. But this is something that we know that we're walking down a path, God has asked us to. And we know that we start with the heart disposition. We're honest before God. We pray and we say, Lord, we're laying this at your feet. Whatever you want to do with this, as you're sanctifying us, we understand it's not even our own strength, but we lay it at our feet. We cast our goals and our what we're trying to simply achieve or where we're trying to grow on him. He cares about our burdens, he takes it on, it says, and I promise to work them out. You know, it's funny, we're recording this. I mean, it's what yeah, mid-almost mid-March. We're close to mid-March. St. Patrick's Day. Is it today? No, it's not today. It's around the corner.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

I I have no idea.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

I think it's March 17th. So St. Patrick's Day, which I got, um, I became like a you know, uh, a St. Patrick's fan a couple years ago. And he has these amazing books and amazing quotes in his life story, which by the way, you can always just pause. There's so much uh, there's good stuff out there to read, even encourage your family. But he has this great quote uh kind of this idea, this disposition behind understanding that we we trust

St. Patrick on Trusting God's Promises

SPEAKER_00 14:47

God through this process. He says this for daily, I expect to be murdered or betrayed. What a what a what a fun way to wake up, or reduced to slavery if the occasion arises, which by the way, he was portrayed and he did end up being a slave for a few years. But he says this, but I fear nothing because of the promises of heaven, for I've cast myself into the hands of the Almighty God who reigns everywhere. As the prophet says, cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you. You're burnt out, it feels like you're getting no sleep. You feel like, hey, I am reading my Bible, I'm trying to grow, my wife's not seeing it. I got angry at the kids, I'm still working on my prayer life, basic Christianity. That does not change. Our sanctification process will until the day we see Jesus face to face, it does not come into its fullness, but we cast all of our burdens on him and we trust in the promises. It will not return void. We know that he's working something out in us and that we're a garden and that if even if we're faithful and obedient, there will be fruit there. And so the second part of this for you guys today is now you just gotta go do it. And you knew that from the beginning. I'm not, I'm not surprising you with any information. You need to walk in obedience as you trust in his promises and you trust and won't, you know, return void. Now just go do it today. The very thing that you're struggling

Walking in Obedience When It's Hard

SPEAKER_00 16:05

to work on, like right now, maybe that thing came to mind. You're like, yeah, I remember that prayer episode, and I'm still struggling with it. Okay, today let's just focus on that. We're gonna walk in obedience, and God, I'm going to rest in you, understand you're my strength, but now I'm just gonna walk it out. Dig in where it hurts. And when you hit the brick wall, there's this quote from the the great, you know, Prince of Preachers, my all-time favorite, Charles Spurgeon. He says this, and we'll finish up here. God works all things together for your good. If the ray waves roll against you, it only speeds your ship towards the port. This understanding, like even when it's coming against you and it's a problematic, it's taking you where you need to go. So I encourage you guys, don't grow weary. You're doing look, as as I mean, I'm genuinely praying for you and praying that guys are walking with Jesus. You're encouraged, don't get burnt out and don't grow weary and doing good. God understands what you're going through. You have two guys on the other side of these mics that know what you're going through. We're walking it out ourselves, but I promise you it's worth it and it uh and won't return void.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

That's awesome. What do you what are some ways that you can recognize times in your life where you feel like you've plateaued? And what are some jump starts that you've been able to implement that kind of get

How to Break Through a Spiritual Plateau

SPEAKER_01 17:25

you back on track?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

I call somebody who's doing it better than me. Um if it is, let's say if you know, maybe maybe devotion time is lacking, you know, I've got one buddy that I don't care what is happening. It's his appointment with God. I mean, it'd be a tornado ripping through his house. He's like, Well it's you know, I'm like, okay. Just having that, hey, I see the faithfulness there, and he's doing it right, and I know his imperfections. That's the other thing. When you know someone, not only doing it better, it's not like this idolization of like, man, yeah, well, he's a super Christian. Like, no, I know his yeah, flaws and faults. And so that helps. So for me, I I find someone who's doing it well or reading a book, you know, find someone that's kind of ahead of you, and it'll encourage you headed down the right path.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

That's so true. I mean, I this this week I was at this quarterly real estate mastermind that I go to, and I've been in it for four years now, and there's some guys there that I've got great relationships with. You know, there's guys that are you know high-level operators all around the country. And when you it's it's funny how this works because like every you know, quarter I go to these events, and just at the point where I feel like I'm hitting that plateau or getting comfortable, I go to this event and I'm talking to guys about my business. They're talking about theirs, there's people presenting, everybody's you know, hey, this is working well for me. This isn't people are talking about how excellent their systems are in these things. And I always identify like a dozen areas that like now I'm really struggling and suffering in these areas when I see these guys are doing it on a high level. So surrounding yourself with people that are that are doing it really, really well exposes the areas where you're deficient in, you know. And you don't want to compare one to the other, you know, everybody's walk with the Lord is is different, but especially in areas where whether it be reading the word or parenting or your relationship with your wife or whoever it is, like there's people that are doing it really well. So model it after that.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

I mean, it's true community. I mean, that's like what discipleship looks like. Yeah, you're not comparing, you're not like,

Finding People Who Are Ahead of You

SPEAKER_00 19:31

oh, I'm I'm better than so-and-so. No, you just want to be around there growing each other, and you want someone that's a little bit ahead of you in some area. Find those people like my wife and I are very intentional with like the not only our friends, but like even the people that are ahead of us. And one thing I noticed early on in my life, it's easy to like you want to find that they're ahead of you and everything. No, identify that one thing that you're just like you do this really well, so I want to be around you more so that I grow in that area. That's good.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Yeah, find those people, and oftentimes you can get comfortable in like your friend group, and it's people that are your peers. But get outside your comfort zone and have dinner, have people over that are 10, 15, 20 years ahead of you, and you'll get like a lot of gold out of those relationships.

SPEAKER_00 20:14

And you'll find people who are willing to like you don't have to be best friends or or like even if it's your pastor at your church, like you don't have to spend like your pastor doesn't have time, but like even our church, I'll never forget. I had a guy tell them I was like, Yeah, I asked him to, you know, lunch and I just add him a bunch of questions. And one guy at my church goes, You can do that. I was like, Yeah, that's why they're there. But it's there's this idea of like, well, you just haven't put yourself out there. So go do it.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

Yeah, go do it. You mentioned the analogy of a garden

The Garden Analogy & Sanctification

SPEAKER_01 20:42

and how it it's so true that when we think of our life in that way, you expect you, yeah. I don't know, you've gardened, right? I have. I'm not very good at it. It's the worst, it is the worst. You put so much work into like creating this garden, tilling the soil, putting the seed down, and then you get these sprouts of fruit, but then there's constantly weeds. And no matter what you do, weeds pop up here, they pop up there, and I feel like you're just constantly pruningly, and it's so true of your life too. It's like just when you think, like, yeah, I got this taken care of, you know, and then you look over like there's five other things.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

When you put all this work in, and it's four bell peppers that you could have bought at a store for three dollars.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

And it's so and the fruit takes so long to see, you know. Um, but that that labor that you put in in season and out season to be able to generate that fruit when that fruit in that season of fruit, it can be so discouraging.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Or or you have a friend. It's funny you told that I had a box garden at my house, and we have a mutual friend. And uh he came over one day and he saw my garden and I worked so hard on it, and it was lacking, but I was proud in the sense like I got fruit, I'm not a green thumb, and he looked at my garden and goes, That's the worst looking garden I've ever seen. I felt so insecure at that moment. I was like, what? But it was true, but there's that part, it's like, okay, well, now I'm just gonna burn the garden to the ground, and that that we're not gonna do. And it's easy to get weary and and and not want to walk forward, but the reality is there is fruit there. Everybody has their own opinion of how much fruit, but we just want to be growing something, guys. Exactly. Even if it's small,

Final Encouragement: Don't Grow Weary

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growing.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

And remember, scripture is and Jesus is sufficient for every struggle that you're dealing with, every every time you feel that you are not sufficient, rest on him and lean on him, lean on scripture because that ultimately is gonna give you the jump start that you need. I love it. Okay. Thank you for listening. If you know somebody who'd be blessed by this message, share it with them. You can email us at info at morningmonday morningmen dot com and we will see you next week.