How Jesus Avoided Emotional Burnout

1. Jesus struggled with feelings of emotional discouragement like everyone, but He prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)

The Lord transferred all of his emotional pain to the care of His Father.

Application: Ask the Lord to take away whatever burden you are facing allowing Him to do whatever He wants with your life - stop resisting His will!

2. Jesus felt deep pain along with every human being, but He called on the Father to send Him an extra measure of strength, comfort and encouragement at crucial times. When Jesus was praying on the Mount of Olives before His arrest Luke writes,

"An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." (Luke 22:43,44)

God will give you an extra measure of grace, wisdom, and strength just when you need it if you will trust and obey Him at the critical times. Remember the words of the famous old hymn,

Song: "Just when you need Him, Jesus is near. Just when you falter, just when you fear. Ready to help you. Ready to cheer. Just when you need Him most."

3. Jesus focused of facts rather than feelings. When Jesus was led before the council of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law they cried, "If you are the Christ, tell us!" Jesus answered,

"You are right in saying I am." (Luke 22:70)

Application: Ask the Lord to help you focus on objective truth in times when you are feeling low, betrayed or misunderstood. His promises are as certain as the character of God’s holiness.

4. Jesus refused to exaggerate the negatives while forgetting the positive promises of God. Peter fell into this trap of succumbing to fear when the servant girl spotted him following Jesus after his arrest. The girl pointed to Peter and cried,

"This man was with him." But he denied it and said, "I don’t know him." (Luke 22:57)

Application: Ask the Lord to help you memorize and meditate on scripture that will help lift your spirits, mind and emotions to things above rather than the negatives of this old world.

5. Jesus refused to compare himself with others. It would have been easy for Jesus to feel sorry for Himself while hanging on the cross between two thieves. One of the criminals hurled an insult at Jesus and said,

"Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" (Luke 23:39) Jesus turned to one thief and brought him salvation at the dying hour. The thief said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

The Lord Jesus turned to the thief and said, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43)

Application: Ask the Lord to let you continue to have a great ministry of evangelism right up to the time when you take your last breath - finish strong.

6. Jesus refused to blame himself for things that were not his fault or were not in His control. The Lord could have questioned why He had to suffer. He could have easily insisted that He was entirely innocent, yet He allowed the will of God to be done regardless of the costs.

Application: Ask the Lord to help you not attached blame wrongly to yourself or to others. Allow the Lord to use you to carry out His will even if everything does not make perfect sense at the time.

7. Jesus found a way to ventilate his frustrations, pain and feelings of disappointment. Is your burden heavy, tell it to Jesus. Remember that there is victory in Jesus.

Application: Feel His joy when you are serving Him and giving Him greater praise and pleasure.

8. Jesus found a way to overcome any feelings of depression through the supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit. God always finds a way when there seems to be no way.

Application: Our Almighty God works in ways that we cannot understand, but His ways are perfect and all of His ways end in victory.

9. Jesus did not get discouraged when His best friends let him down. When the Lord Jesus finished praying he found the disciples asleep, exhausted from sorrow. He said, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." (Luke 22:45,46)

Application: At the worst of times even some of your best friends will disappoint you, but remember that our Father never lets us down. Remember the famous chorus,

Song: "The man of the world may let you down, but our Father never fails."

10. Jesus refused to let His mind fall into patterns of faulty thinking. The last words out of Christ’s mouth were, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46)