Burned Out?

Years ago, I was at a sorority training event for adult chapter advisors, and the presenter said, "Sometimes, those who say that are burned out never had a fire to start with." 

I like it. I don't think it means that we are supposed to continue to trudge through the work we're doing, even when we don't have passion or desire for it. I do think there are times when we were called to particular work for God, and we do it, and we reach a place when we are called to do something else, and pass the previous call to someone else. 

But sometimes, we use the phrase "burned out" to signify that we believe we've done a whole lot of work, and we are used up. Empty. I do think that happens, but sometimes, don't we say it because we want someone else to notice how much work we've done? And do we sometimes say it because we never had a passion for the work in the first place? 

In writing about Paul, Buechner says, "Jesus lit the fire, and Paul used it to forge for him a new church." 

Christ lights sparks inside of us, and when we fan those flames through service, we find that Christ continues to feed the fire - that our passion doesn't diminish. We may be called to move on to some other work, but our passion for service doesn't die. Am I write? Or just wishful?

At one point, I told a friend, "I'm going to stop doing this particular job that I'm doing at the church." He replied, "Ok, what are you going to do instead?"

What fire has Christ lighted in your heart? What are you called to do with it? What part of the Church can your forge for Christ?