Running on Empty

by Brian Bill
Published October 2, 2007

I really like to work out. Maybe a better way to say it is that I have an exercise obsession. A couple years ago, I decided to try out the treadmill for the first time. It didn’t look all that difficult so I jumped on and started walking. After a few seconds, I got bored with the slow speed so I cranked it up a little faster. As I was sprinting at gazelle speed I proudly looked around to make sure people could see how fast I was going. It didn’t take long, however, before I got tired. So what did I do? I slowed down. But, as soon as I stopped running, the belt threw my feet into the wall behind me while the rest of my body landed on the treadmill with a thud.

Do you feel like you’re on an emotional treadmill? Is your life going faster and faster and you don’t know how to slow it down? Do you wonder how much longer you can keep up the pace? Perhaps you’ve been thrown off, and you’re wondering how to get back up.

I want to talk about a man named Elijah. Even though his story is found in the Bible, it doesn’t mean he had it all together. In fact, he experienced a wide range of emotions -- from ecstatic exhilaration to the depths of despair. The Bible describes Elijah as a person who was just like us (James 5:17). Events in his life read like a modern-day case study in burnout (see 1 Kings 19).

Elijah served as a chaplain in his country and demonstrated boldness and courage on several occasions, even at times confronting King Ahab and Queen Jezebel for their behavior. One day, Jezebel was infuriated and flew into a rage, demanding his immediate execution. Elijah, who just hours earlier was riding an emotional high, was knocked flat and headed into an emotional tailspin.

Elijah was driven, fatigued, tired, exhausted, weary, burned out, anxious, overloaded, and stressed -- can you relate to any of these feelings? Realizing he needed to burn off some tension, he ran a marathon, found a small tree and collapsed in its shade. In his ditch of despair, he prayed that he might die. In this state of utter despondency and dismay, he fell sound asleep.

Like Elijah, you may feel like giving up because you have no more to give. It’s important to realize that burnout is really a reversible ailment. The key is to begin immediate action to undo it. Elijah was given four prescriptions that have great application to our own lives.

The first prescription may surprise you. Instead of telling him to suck it up and snap out of it, God knew that the most important medicine Elijah needed at that point was rest. Elijah had collapsed under the tree and fallen asleep in utter exhaustion. The Bible says that God then sent an angel to him who said, “Get up and eat.” When he looked around, he found some fresh bread and some water. He ate all the bread and downed the water and went back to sleep. After allowing him to sleep some more, the divine messenger returned and told him to get up again and eat some more food. Our bodies were designed to need rest. You can either wait until you’re totally maxed out like Elijah was and collapse in total exhaustion, or, you can take the healthier approach and begin to incorporate rest into your life.

Prescription #1 is to get some rest. Prescription #2 is to Rediscover God. When we’re emotionally strung out, it’s easy to think that everyone is against us. When we no longer have emotional margins, God seems distant.

After resting, God instructed Elijah to travel to a mountain about 500 miles away (he must have been in great shape!). Once he arrived, he went into a cave and spent the night. God then addressed him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” After giving an answer that still revealed his shaky emotional state, God decided that Elijah needed to rediscover the Divine and told him to come out of the cave and stand on the mountain because God Himself was about to pass by him.

Just then, a sudden, violent, rushing wind swept across the ridges. It roared through the canyons and over the top of the mountain. Stones and boulders came loose and crashed into each other. But the Bible says that God was not in the wind. Then an eerie earthquake ripped through the entire area causing gigantic rockslides and cracks everywhere. But, God didn’t reveal Himself in the earthquake either. Then there was a furious fire that consumed everything in its path. But God wasn’t in the fire either.

And then, it happened. When the wind was gone, when the earth stopped trembling, and when the fire died out, there was utter stillness on top of the mountain. And, in the intensity of the awesome silence came a whisper -- it was the voice of God. When Elijah heard the soft voice he got out of his cave of self-pity. The events on the mountain were the catalyst that brought him back into connection with God.

You see, like us, Elijah needed to rediscover God. He needed to learn that God was with him when things were going good and that God was with him when things were tough. God doesn’t always keep us from going through difficult times but He does promise to walk through them with us. Hearing God’s whisper reminded Elijah that God was still in control of all the circumstances.

If you want to rediscover God, it’s important to emotionally downshift. We need to remove some of the noise and clutter from our lives. God is hard to hear when we’re so inundated with other things. We have to be quiet enough to hear him.

Now that Elijah is rested and has rediscovered God, he’s given a third prescription -- a reassignment to serve others. Are you involved in the lives of people to such an extent that you’re able to meet their needs? Are you making a difference by using your God-given abilities and gifts to strengthen others? If you want to increase your emotional energy, then take your eyes off yourself and your problems and develop an “others orientation.” You’ll be amazed at how much better you’ll feel.

After prescribing rest so that we can rediscover God, we then receive a reassignment to serve people. This final prescription has to do with relationships. Elijah was alone and isolated in his despair. Even though he was rested and had rediscovered God, he was still alienated from others. God then provided him with a genuine friend and companion named Elisha.

God has designed all of us with an innate need for relationships. Just as God led Elijah to a friend, so too, His desire is for you to cultivate some authentic relationships with others. Interestingly, as we take Prescription #3 seriously and work at putting the needs of others first, we’ll lay the groundwork for some good friendships. After all, no one wants to be friends with someone who is selfish and egocentric.

Let me make an observation. Some people are running on empty because of some fractured friendships. Broken relationships are a razor across the artery of the spirit. If you’re experiencing some conflict right now in your relationships, do what it takes to make them right. True reconciliation is one of the most powerful of all human interactions.

God reversed Elijah’s emotional burnout by meeting his basic needs. He needed rest and nourishment, so God provided sleep and food. He needed a fresh understanding of who God is, so God revealed Himself by gently whispering to him. He needed a proper perspective of himself -- a sense of self-worth -- so God assigned him a task he could handle. And, finally, Elijah needed some close relationships with others, so God provided a friend for him.

Let’s face it. Most of us are tired. We’re burned out and saturated. We’re running like mad on the treadmill of life. But God wants us to slow down. He wants us to find life. He wants us to find peace. And He wants us to find rest.

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