I have just begun the first week of the spring semester 2021. I will have to say so far it has not been that challenging, but I know by the time I get midway through I will be tired of homework, going to class and work, and being on time. I don't know if anyone else gets this way after being in the groove of work whether it be at the office, school, or at home. You might even be like me and just beginning a new semester of classes to further your education. Well for this week I wanted to focus on perseverance and burnout and what the Bible says about these points.
When I think of beginning a new thing and then burning out I think of the Israelites in the book of Exodus. If we look at the full context of the book of Exodus and the saga of the Israelites and their passion for burnout we can see their attitudes evolve beginning at the end of Genesis with the death of Joseph after the clan of Hebrews, at the time moved, to Egypt to be with Joseph. At this time they were working for Egypt to stay on the land they inhabited, and after a few generations the Egyptian Pharaoh forgot all that Joseph had done for their land and brought the Hebrew people into slavery under the Egyptian nation. This was the beginning of the oppression. This oppression lasted for many years until the Pharaoh began to notice the birthrate of the Hebrews began to increase and increase more greatly in male children than female children. He feared for his position of power so he ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill all the newborn Hebrew boys. Fortunately the midwives feared God and they did not obey the Pharaoh. This is where Moses comes in. (Exodus 1-2:10)
Skipping through the details of Moses' life and his calling to help free God's people (Exodus 2:11-6) we go through all the things. The miracles performed before Pharaoh, the ten plagues and finally the release of the Israelites to the promised land. That seemed to be a joyful time for them and they were obedient to God. They took silver and gold form the Egyptian people and left the land just as God commanded Moses to do. Once they got far enough away, the Pharaoh decided that he wanted them back and pursued God's people. Then God even parted the Red Sea for their safe passage and allowed the waters to come crashing down on the Egyptian soldiers sent to reclaim the people. (Exodus 7-14)
Then in Exodus 15 Moses praises God for all he has done to bring them through such hard times and thanks him for his faithfulness. Then in the same chapter in verses 22 through 24 we see the Israelites complaining and burning out only three days after God performed some of the greatest miracles of all time. Below is the passage I am referring to.
Exodus 15:22-24 (ESV)
Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
In the passage above we can see how quickly the Israelites had forgotten all that God had done for them. When looking back we can see that he caused ten plagues to come down on Egypt and some of them exempt the nation of Israel. (Exodus 7:14-11:32) And just three days prior to their complaints God had parted the Red Sea. According to Bible-history.com, "the Red Sea at its widest is 1000 miles long and 200 miles wide." So this was no small task for God to perform for His people. You might think it is crazy for them to loose faith so fast but I want you to think back on your life. Has God performed miracles for the big things in your life? Or maybe they were small things but they meant a lot to you? Now examine how quickly you may have lost faith in another situation down the road. Maybe you have lost faith in Him recently. Just think about it for a moment. If God came through for you so many times before just like he did for the Israelites then why would he stop now? Are you like the people of God do you complain about bitter water after He just blessed you with freedom?
What this means for us
If you are worried about how you are going to get through this school year, or work week, or day remember this. If you read the verses following the complaints of the Israelites you will see that God once again provided for their needs if they had only persevered and not burnt out so quickly. (Exodus 15:25-27) Not only did God give them sweet water in that situation but shortly after their time in that land God blessed His people with a land that had twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. There was one spring for each tribe of Jacob and the seventy palm trees implies that there was plenty. God always comes through better than we can ever imagine. So I urge you to persevere through the school year or the work week or just the day. God is with you and He can help you persevere so that you will not burnout like the Israelites if you allow him.
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