Telling the Truth

Jill Briscoe: Are you flat on your face under the broom tree at the moment? Are you feeling his loving touch in the desert? Do you know how to do that? Just be still and just think about him. Think about him doing kind things for you or for other people. Read through the gospels, or if you're too tired to read and too burned out to read, just think about them. Just lie back and start and think of the gospel story. Think of him helping the little widow whose only son had died, and imagine what that was like, and try and get yourself in the picture and think how kind Jesus is.

Announcer: Have you ever done that? When trying times come, focus on the kindness of Jesus. What an attitude changer. Today on Telling the Truth, we're hearing more of Jill's series, Running on Empty, and how you can find spiritual renewal and refreshment. But first, the Bible's wisdom teaches you a lot about how to succeed in every dimension of life. And Stuart and Jill want to help you master the art of being successful with their three-message series, A Lifetime of Wisdom.

It's our thanks for your gift today to keep this broadcast going strong. As an additional token of our appreciation, we'll send you a beautiful, frameable art piece featuring Hebrews 10:23 that will help you remember God's faithfulness daily. So call today to request your copy. 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388. Or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Here's Jill now with the second part of Elijah's story.

Jill Briscoe: I remember coming to Elmbrook straight out of hospital with a bleeding ulcer. And I was very apprehensive, and we'd immigrated, and I had a lot of stress and strain, and I was clutching my stomach, which really wasn't mended yet. Feeling very ashamed of the fact that I, a Christian married to this prominent Christian man, had an ulcer at all. Surely I should have faith and be resting and be peaceful and be happy and take everything in stride and, you know, come out with all the promises of God and have a lovely evangelical smile all the time, sleep good at night and all the rest.

And here I was, sitting clutching my stomach in church. Well, somebody suggested I go to this Bible class. So I go into this Bible class and I sit there, and this is the first meeting I ever went to at Elmbrook Church. And there was a wonderful lady teaching the Bible study. And Wynn opened this Bible study up for questions at the end, and she said, "Would anybody like to share anything?"

And so somebody shared something, and somebody else shared things that I didn't feel should have been shared anywhere other than the confessional. But this was my first experience of American culture. I thought, "Good heavens, what have I come to?" I couldn't believe it. This woman stood up and said, "I hate my daughter." And then this woman stood up and said, "Well, I'm her daughter and I hate her." And I thought, "Well, this is lovely. This is a Bible class."

And Wynn was standing there saying, "Oh yes, yes," you know, and she was saying all these wonderful things that made all these people love each other and there were tears. I couldn't believe my eyes. Then somebody got up and said they'd had a hysterectomy and I thought, "How could they tell us that in public?" So I was sitting there and literally, of course, my ulcer was playing up in grand fashion by this time.

And then I heard this woman say something about, "Well, I think Jesus is the answer to this and Jesus is the answer to that. And Jesus always takes my fears away. And Christians shouldn't have ulcers." And I was nearly sick. I thought, "They mustn't know. They'll never ever know." Oh, it was awful. All these cramps began. I thought, "Well, they're going to know sometime or other and anyway, that's such a silly thing to say."

So up I get on my feet and I said, "Excuse me, I have to say something. This is my first meeting ever at Elmbrook. I am your new pastor's wife and I have an ulcer." And I sat down. And I remember Wynn smiling at me with that beautiful smile she has, and she says, "Oh Jill, oh Jill, how wonderful." I said, "Wonderful?" "Yes," she said. "I know you and I know where you've come from. And without Jesus Christ, you would have had twenty ulcers, right?" And I said, "Yes, Wynn, but I've only got one."

And you know, it is a silly statement, Christians don't have ulcers. But it's true, I'm not perfect. I'm working on it. Maybe I shouldn't have an ulcer, but I should actually have had twenty, the lifestyle and the things I was under stress for. But because I knew Christ, he's helping me to learn how to deal with burnout and ulcers and headaches and backaches and all the rest of the things that come our way.

And every time I find myself flat on my face under my broom tree, I remember his loving touch in the desert. I mustn't isolate. I must be able to say I'm not perfect, I've had enough, Lord, and allow people to minister to me, not leave the people behind me that could really help me. So God is there and God cares, and he'll cook me breakfast. And in the strength of that encouragement, I can go on, going on.

And of course, that's what Elijah did. So he went on. What happened? Well, the word of the Lord came to him, verse ten. And he began complaining. He'd had a couple of good sleeps, two super meals, off he'd gone miles and miles and miles until he came to Horeb. And he said, "I've been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant. They've broken down your altars and put your prophets to death with the sword. I'm the only one left and now they're trying to kill me too."

The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Then a great and a powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord wasn't in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord wasn't in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. The Lord wasn't in the fire. After the fire came a gentle whisper.

When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and he went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. And a voice said to him, "What you doing here, Elijah?" He said, "I've been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left and now they're trying to kill me too."

The Lord said to him, "Go back the way you came. Go to the desert. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram, anoint Jehu king of Nimshi king over Israel, anoint Elisha to succeed you as prophet." And the chapter finishes, "So Elijah went and did what he was told." So even though you find his faithful touch, his loving touch in the desert, you'll also find his faithful ministry in your cave.

Perhaps you think you can retire. You can never retire. Even if you feel you're a failure, even if you are flat on your face feeling that you failed, you ran away from this woman after doing so well on the mountain, you did lousy in the valley and you feel a failure. But God won't let you stay in your cave. Cave of retirement on your holy hill, I always think of it. He loves you too much to leave you there, and that still small voice will come and say, "What you doing here? What you doing here? What you doing here?" because he won't let you stay.

A broom tree experience does not give you permission to retire, only to recreate for a little while. There's a world to be won. There are people to meet. There's Elisha to train. And we have no right to retire in a religious sense. And incidentally, the Holy Spirit's voice is too loud to shut out, even though it's a whisper. God's voice, which is a gentle, insistent whisper from within, is louder than any earthquake, any wind, any storm.

And even though you put your cloak over your ears, you won't be able to shut it down. That's because he loves you too much, and he faithfully ministers to you until he gets you back where you should be, back on your feet. That's what he's after.

Announcer: This is Telling the Truth, the teaching ministry of Stuart and Jill Briscoe. Jill will be right back to tell you more about the refreshment and renewal only found in God. But first, we want to let you know that your partnership helps encourage people across the world like Cole, who recently shared: "I have listened to Telling the Truth for years. The Briscoes' teaching is biblically solid and easily applicable. I love Jill's humor and down-to-earth stories. We were missionaries for years in Southeast Asia, where we poured out in ministry to many. But the Briscoes were my teachers and pastors, who encouraged me and lifted me up. And now, again back in the states, they continue to bless and teach me. Thank you is not sufficient for all you've done for millions and what you still do."

Thank you for those kind words, Cole. That's the kind of teaching and encouragement you help provide listeners around the world through your financial support. So if you've never given before, please consider a gift today to help more people experience life in Christ. We'll show our appreciation for your support by sending you the Briscoes' three-message series, A Lifetime of Wisdom.

In this powerful series filled with colorful stories and insight from Stuart and Jill Briscoe, you'll discover how to make the most of the lessons God is teaching you through your experiences. And as an added token of our thanks, we'll send you a beautiful, frameable Bible verse featuring Hebrews 10:23 to help you always remember God's faithfulness. So request your copy of A Lifetime of Wisdom when you give today, and thank you for helping more people around the world experience life in Christ. Call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388. Or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's more from Jill Briscoe.

Jill Briscoe: I love this story in all sorts of ways. But I think I love it most because of his insistence and persistence with us. God wants to grow us up. He wants to make us not old, but mature—and that word sounds old in itself. He wants to keep us fresh, to make us so mature that we know how to freshen ourselves and to keep fresh. And one of the secrets is ministry.

It's right here. Go and do this to this king, and go and find Elisha and train him to be your successor, and go and do this and go and do that. And I'm often asked this question, "Jill, what do you do to keep fresh? You're going at such a pace, surely you must burnout. How do you keep fresh? Who ministers to you? When do you get a chance to sit and take in, instead of giving out all the time?"

Well, the answer to that is very, very seldom. Very seldom. But I tell you one thing that does keep me fresh is deliberately putting myself into a situation where I have to face the same group of women every week and give them something new. That's ministry. And to deliberately meet with a friend—maybe you're not a Bible study leader, very few of us are—but to meet with a friend and be accountable to that one person, and to have to come out with something that's going to be a blessing.

That'll keep you fresh. Go and find this man, go and find that woman and minister to them, Elijah. Go on, get down from your little cozy cave of retirement. That will help. And that's the answer I've given. You say, "Well, that's just more ministry." Yes, it is in a way. It is in a way. To be pressured into the word of God so that you might share it with someone else is what I'm calling ministry now.

And that's for every Christian. That's for every Christian. Who is it you're praying with to accept Christ? Who is it that's the young Christian on the block that really needs your encouragement and help? Well, however burned out you feel, if you really stretch and you really try and help somebody that's in need, spiritually or physically, practically, you'll find yourself freshened.

You'll find yourself back on target. You'll find all this self-pity that you hear, "I only I, I only I," and God leans out of heaven, incidentally, and he says stuff and nonsense, there's seven thousand just like you. "Seven thousand in Israel," verse eighteen, "all whose knees haven't bowed down to Baal." So just let's get out of this sea of self-pity, Elisha, and leave those seven thousand to me. Maybe they're not being verbal. Maybe they're not standing up to have their heads chopped off like you have. Maybe that's not what I've asked them to do. That's none of your business. You follow me. You do this. You be obedient.

And I think that's another secret as well. Whatever God does to freshen Israel, the seven thousand that obviously needed refreshing and bringing back to the Lord and renewal, that's God's business and their business. The business that we have to attend to is keeping the Lord center in our life so that this little bush can burn and yet never be consumed, so that we don't end up flat on our face under the broom tree.

And for each of us it'll be something different. For some of us it will be ministering, giving out, stretching beyond our own self into somebody else's need. That'll keep you fresh. So I wonder where you are in this story. Are you flat on your face under the broom tree at the moment? Are you feeling his loving touch in the desert? Do you know how to do that? Just be still and just think about him. Think about him doing kind things for you or for other people.

Read through the gospels, or if you're too tired to read and too burned out to read, just think about them. Just lie back and start and think of the gospel story. Think of him helping the little widow whose only son had died and imagine what that was like, and try and get yourself in the picture and think how kind Jesus is. Think of his kindness and his love, and then realize that he wants to be kind and loving with you.

And just absorb yourself in his loving touches, what he's done for you. I remember years ago being refreshed by his loving touch in one of my deserts. In fact, I've spoken so much around the place now and I'm all muddled up with these talks that I don't know if I've given this illustration. Did I tell you about the peaches? No? You can't remember? Good, I can tell you about the peaches.

I can't remember, I just told somebody about the peaches and I can't remember who it was. But years and years ago, I was down south somewhere and I was doing all the southern cities and I would do a whole women's day all of my own, without any of the team we have here. And then I'd get in a car—or they'd hire a car for me—and I'd drive to Charlottesville to the next one, and then Nashville, and I just was all over the south.

And it was getting pretty tiring, and there was about seven whole women's days in a row, just like that, one after the other. And then you'd arrive at the next place, and there'd be a little committee waiting and you'd have to arrive all bright and breezy and ready to go and try and grasp what's happening and all the rest of it. Well, I had to get a plane at this place and then hire a car and drive myself to the next spot.

And the plane was late. So I called to say that I probably wouldn't be in that night. And then I managed to get a plane. And I didn't have time to ring again, so I thought, "Well, I'll just arrive and if there's anyone there, they'll show me where the bed is," etc., etc. So I did just arrive, but there was no one there, they'd all gone to bed. And I hadn't eaten. It was one of those days when I just missed lunch on every plane.

That happens sometimes. And you say, "Is there any food?" and they say, "No, sorry," and give you a bag of peanuts. You know, well, it wasn't even peanuts. So I was pretty hungry, I'd missed my breakfast for some reason, hadn't eaten lunch, hadn't eaten dinner. And so by the time I—I just literally hadn't eaten all day. And I was past actually being hungry, you know how that is. But I was really thirsty.

And I got there and I thought, "Oh, there's nobody here," and I scrabbled around and found my room number, found my packet on the table—it was the only one that hadn't been picked up—found out where I was to go and I found my room. And I opened the room and there was—sometimes there's nice bowl of fruit in there. There was nothing in there. So I thought, "Well, I'll go and see if I can get in the kitchen."

I went in the kitchen, and I remember saying to the Lord, "Lord, I am just exhausted. And I know this sounds silly, and I tell people not to do this, Lord. I run around the world warning people about praying like this. But I have this terrific yen for a peach. Love a nice big peach. I thought, I bet you if I could just get in the kitchen, there'd be a peach sitting on that table." So I go round this kitchen and I think, "Well, I could get in the window," and I do all these things.

I think I'm going to be arrested if I'm not careful. And I never get in the kitchen, I can't get in the kitchen. So I scrabble around the dining room, there's nothing. So I think, "Well, go to bed." And I get back to my door, and it is now one o'clock in the morning, and there on my doorstep is not one peach, but a basket of peaches. That's never happened to me before or since. Now I've had baskets of fruit in there, but a banana and an apple, you know, grapes, maybe a peach.

I think I had a peach once, but never a basket of peaches. You're telling me that he doesn't meet me in the desert and he doesn't refresh me with loving little touches? Now he didn't make me breakfast, he gave me a basket of peaches. I have no idea where they came from. The next day I said, "Who gave me the peaches?" Nobody knew. They'd never seen the basket before. Now I don't believe—I really don't believe that God sent that basket.

But he might have done, because we never did figure out who it came from. But he can send a fiery chariot for Elijah, he can send me a basket of peaches. The amazing thing about that was that's what I'd asked for. And maybe I shouldn't have asked for it, but I was his child and I was exhausted. I was burned out in every sort of way. I hadn't had it quite, but I'd nearly had it with the Lord's people and the Lord's work.

"Why weren't they there for me? And why had I had to get a car and come myself?" and all the rest of it, you know. And there were the peaches. And it was such a loving touch in my desert. And it renewed me immediately. What we need to do sometimes is look around for the breakfast, look around for the basket of peaches. Say, "Oh, that's it, I nearly missed it. God did give me that loving touch in the desert when I felt all alone. I didn't feel anyone cared and I missed it. I nearly missed it." It'll be there.

Announcer: God meets us and provides for us even in our worst times of burnout. Jill Briscoe on today's Telling the Truth. And she'll be right back to talk about what you can do practically to help someone you know is struggling with burnout. What is the definition of a successful life? And what does it take to have success?

Scripture is filled with wisdom designed to teach you what God defines as success and how you can achieve it. That's why we're excited to send you Stuart and Jill's three-message series, A Lifetime of Wisdom, as thanks for your gift of support today to keep broadcasts like today's message coming your way and going out through Telling the Truth's global ministry.

This series brings you Stuart and Jill's combined teachings on wisdom and will help you make the most of the lessons God is teaching you through your experiences, so you can unlock the secret to a truly successful life. Request your copy when you call now to give and help more people experience life in Christ. And as an additional token of our appreciation, we'll send you a beautiful, frameable art piece featuring Hebrews 10:23 that will help you always remember God's faithfulness. Call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388. Or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's the conclusion of Jill's message.

Jill Briscoe: You might be asking, "What can I do to help my pastor or my friend when they're facing burnout?" Well, bring them a basket of peaches. Or cook them breakfast. Or let them sleep. Or provide the means for them to sleep. Sometimes we call them and they're exhausted. I had a phone call not so long ago, and I said to the person, "What can I do to help you?" She said, "I'm exhausted." I said, "Well, the first thing is to sleep. Go and sleep."

"Well, I can't," she said, "there's all these messages." I said, "Tear the phone out the wall. Go and sleep." And God provided for her a wonderful night's sleep because I gave her permission as a Christian leader, because I knew he'd given it to Elijah. Sometimes that's the most spiritual thing we can do for one another. Or bring them out of isolation. I said to another friend, "I'm having lunch with you once a week, whether you like it or not." "Why?" she said. I said, "Because I think you're in the cave." And we go for lunch, and we sit there and we talk.

And after about two weeks, out of the cave she came. And God ministers to her through the friendship. There's all sorts of things we can do. But God's touch is always loving, and it's always personal. And it was exactly what Elijah needed. And God knows exactly what you need. May God bless you.

Announcer: It was just what Elijah needed, and God knows exactly what you need as well. Thanks for listening to Telling the Truth, the teaching ministry of Stuart and Jill Briscoe. If today's message was a blessing, check out tellingthetruth.org. You can find more teaching on burnout, or hundreds of other topics from the Briscoes. And remember to call and ask for your copy of A Lifetime of Wisdom and the art piece when you give 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388. Join us next time for more from Jill on Telling the Truth.