Beyond Burnout

Burnout is all too common. My doctor says I need a two week vacation and I tell him I just got off of a six week vacation but he says that was no vacation and he's right. I need two weeks away, alone on a cruise or something like that. One of the most disastrous consequences is that our hearts become hardened and we are unable to become refreshed in the Lord. With Jesus we can renew our energy.  Decide what is pressing on you and sapping your energy. Ask God to refresh your spirit and renew your commitment. Think about how you can handle your responsibilities better. When has tiredness blunted my desire to care for others? When have I chosen to not be a help to others?  Help me to recognize and counteract the signs that are contributing factors to my burnout and hardening of my heart. God I ask you to help me give of myself while maintaining a balance with my life so that I do not burn out.
Mark 6:6-55
⁶And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

    Then Jesus went around

teaching from village to village. ⁷Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil^[a] spirits.  ⁸These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. ¹⁰Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them."
 ¹²They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

John the Baptist Beheaded

 ¹⁴King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying,^[b] "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him."  ¹⁵Others said, "He is Elijah."
      And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago."
 ¹⁶But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"
 ¹⁷For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. ¹⁸For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." ¹⁹So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, ²⁰because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled^[c]; yet he liked to listen to him.
 ²¹Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²²When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
   The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." ²³And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."
 ²⁴She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?"
      "The head of John the Baptist," she answered.
 ²⁵At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter."
 ²⁶The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. ²⁹On hearing of this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

 ³⁰The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. ³¹Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."  ³²So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. ³³But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
 ³⁵By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. ³⁶Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."
 ³⁷But he answered, "You give them something to eat."
      They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages^[d]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"
 ³⁸"How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see."
      When they found out, they said, "Five—and two fish."
 ³⁹Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Jesus Walks on the Water

 ⁴⁵Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.  ⁴⁷When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. ⁴⁸He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, ⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, ⁵⁰because they all saw him and were terrified.
   Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." ⁵¹Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, ⁵²for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
 ⁵³When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.