Get Off The Hamster Wheel

Do you sometimes feel as though you are a hamster running on a wheel? It does not matter if you move fast or slow, you still seem to get nowhere.

As a believer who desires to live for the Lord and be used by Him in ministry, this can be a frustrating experience. You want to change things, but you are not sure where to start or what to do.

In this blog I explain how this happens naturally and is different for all of us. But the solution is simple and can be applied by anyone. Feel free to watch the video, listen to the audio or read the transcript.

Audio File

Ending song and words can be found here:

https://gbm-music.com/view-songs/?songno=28

Text Transcript

Sometimes life can be like you’re running on a hamster’s wheel. You know the hamster, it doesn’t make any difference whether he walks or runs or how fast he goes, he just goes round and round and round and never seems to get anywhere. And perhaps you’ve been feeling that way and I sense in the spirit today that there are many folks that are in this kind of situation, you’re feeling a bit directionless and unaccomplished.

And perhaps you’re busy, busy with a lot of things, but somehow you don’t feel that you’re doing the right things and you don’t feel that you’re accomplishing anything, especially for the Lord. Well, sometimes, in fact, often all of us have this experience and it doesn’t make any difference what kind of person you are. You’re just going to approach it in a different way.

You see now there are four main temperaments and each temperamental type will have a different kind of situation where this is concerned. The driver temperament, for example, is a hard driving temperament that’s very time-oriented and work-oriented. The driver thrives on work, often be classed as a workaholic.

So the driver is the kind of person, he’s that hamster who’s going flat out on that wheel, hardly stopping. Work is important. We’ve got to get the job done.

We must get it done and we must get it done on time. And you’re not distracted from other things. If people come to try and speak to you while you are working, you get irritated because they’re interrupting your workflow.

And so you get your head down and there you’re going. Now perhaps that’s the kind of person you are and right now you’ve been very busy with a lot of activities, probably especially at your job or at work or whatever other responsibilities you have. You’re on the go, on the go.

But where does the Lord fit into the picture? If the Lord were to kind of try and interrupt you and say, excuse me, there’s something I’d like you to do, would you tend to do Him the same way and say, I’ll get to it shortly, Lord. I’m just busy with this job. Once I’ve got it done, I’ll get to it.

Yeah, sure you will. You never do. Right.

That’s the driver temperament. And then we have the expressive. The expressive thrives on excitement and goals and on doing new things. Give the expressive a new target, a new goal, something exciting to accomplish. And they pull out all the stops. There he goes, the hamster on the wheel.

He’s wanting to reach his destination. And perhaps you have a project or you’ve had a project to do and man, that kept you going. You left out everything else in your life. You didn’t take time. I didn’t even take a break because you wanted to get that done. It was exciting and you wanted to accomplish it.

And now it’s accomplished. The goal has been reached. Where do we go from here? Now that goal may even have been a ministry goal that God gave you. But now that you’ve reached it, where do you go from here? There’s no more excitement. There’s no drive. There’s no more direction.

And you’re sitting there saying, I don’t really know what to do next. That’s the expressive temperament. If you’re the amiable temperament, your main goals in life are to help people, to aid and assist people with problems.

You enjoy being around people, sharing with them, listening to their needs and their problems, giving them advice and just being an all-around nice guy, being generous to help other people in their needs. Well, you don’t have to look far to find somebody in need. And one of the things I’ve learned is that a need is not a call.

God has never moved by needs. He’s moved by faith. And sometimes we get sidetracked with all the needs of the people out there.

And we’re so busy helping other people and carry their burdens and carrying their loads that actually we got our eyes off what God told us to do. And you didn’t reach, you didn’t accomplish the ministry goal that God gave you to do. Well, you’re going to have to push yourself just to get in there and do the job.

Whereas the driver has to hold off on the work and take time to be with people, the amiable has to take time out with people and get to the job, otherwise it doesn’t get done. And then we have the good old analytical, the most difficult and yet at times the most capable temperament with so many abilities and gifts. The analytical thrives on perfection and on getting things right and in order.

The analytical does not rush into anything. They take their time to figure it out. And until all the pieces are in place, they’re not going anywhere.

See, the analytical is checking the hamster’s wheel to make sure that the bearings are good, to make sure that it’s not going to fall apart, to make sure it’s going to work okay once I start running. And they never get to running. Well, God’s called you and he’s told you that you must do something for the kingdom of God.

And you’re thinking, I really would like to. I would like to minister. I would like to preach, but I don’t know enough of the word.

I’m not really that good a speaker. So I’m going to have to, I’m going to get some training. I’m going to have to get some experience and until I feel happy with myself and my ability to do these things, you know, I can’t go off half-cocked.

I can’t go out there and do a half job because it’s for the Lord and it must be right. And it must be perfect. You’re going nowhere, nowhere.

Now I’m sure you fitted into one or more of those temperaments. Most of us are a mixture of temperaments and you’re sitting in a situation right now where you’re saying, I really want to work for the Lord. I really want to accomplish what God’s called me to do.

There’s so many things that I want to do, but why are you not doing them? Because you’re a driver and you have other jobs that are sidetracking you and keeping you busy. You know, when we first started this ministry, I was the only programmer and I used to spend a lot of time writing programs to design our websites and to make them work efficiently. And I would spend the whole day just trying to get one little program to work.

And if you’re a programmer, you can know that it can take you a whole day just to find a bug in the system. And at the end of the day, you are weary, but you have a sense of accomplishment that you did some work. But how many people did you bring to the Lord during your work? How many people did you minister to and help along the way with your work? You see, we can always justify and make excuses, but no matter what your temperament, you’re always going to face the same thing.

So how do we get around this? Well, you know, we can’t have a one size fits all because we’re all different kinds of people. So we’ve got to stop first and speak to the boss. You know, unless you’re the boss of your job, the chances are you have somebody who’s telling you what to do.

And if the boss says, I want this job done and I want it done by this afternoon, then you have a clear direction. You say, well, I really don’t feel like doing this job. I would rather do another job that’s far more exciting.

The expressive says, this is boring. The amiable says, but can’t I just take time to chat with some of the people? There’s so many needs around you. And the analytical is sitting making lists and tools to help him to do his job better before he gets started.

And man, before you know it, it’s really lunchtime and the job still isn’t done. Why do you have a boss that solves that? The boss puts pressure on you, you change. Well, you know, the Lord doesn’t do that.

He doesn’t put pressure on us. He’s the loving, he’s one of the best bosses there is, but somebody’s going to have to put pressure on you and discipline you to do what needs to get done. Where are you going to find such a person? You may have a mentor or a spiritual parent that could help you, but unless you’re living with them, they can’t do that every day.

So if you want to find the person who’s going to discipline you and make you get the job done, go and find the mirror. Have a good look. See that smiling guy there? Yeah, he’s the one. He’s the one who’s going to have to tell you what to do. You have to take control of your own life. You’re going to have to take control of your own self and your own weaknesses.

But we do have, we do have a heavenly boss and his door is open all the time. All you need to do is to walk in and say, excuse me, boss, I’m not sure what to do today. What should I give priority to? Should I spend more time working with people and helping them? Should I move more into prophetic ministry, which is very exultational and encouragement? Or should I get into the word and do some good sound teaching and share good principles with the people? Do you want me to go out and reach the lost? What do you want me to do today? And you know, he’s not going to push you or force you.

He’s going to offer you some alternatives and he’ll come up with some creative idea. If you’re an expressive, he’s going to come up with a new creative idea. It’s going to light your fire and you’re going to get out there.

If you’re a driver, he’s going to give you the job to beat all jobs and you will feel so great doing that job. If you’re an amiable, he’s going to make sure you’re in there helping people and mixing with them. And if you’re an analytical, oh, he’s going to give you the most perfect plan of all plans.

Just remember until you actually start doing the job, plan’s no use. You must learn to journal. I find that’s the best way to get to the Lord.

If you can flow prophetically or learn to interpret your own tongues, that’s a very good way. Just wait on the Lord until you feel his spirit rise up in you and speak in tongues and then interpret your tongues and record it so that you can play it back and review what God said. And then the boss has spoken.

It’s easy for you now to say, okay, I know what to do. Let me get down there and do it. And if you get stuck during the day, you know what? His door is still open. Just go in and say, I’m having a little problem. Can you help me, your Lord? And he will. So if you’re feeling stuck on that hamster wheel, no, no, no.

Stop right where you are. Take time out to be in his presence. Wait on him. You know, it doesn’t take long. Really, when you learn to hear his voice, it doesn’t take long. And before you know it, you’ve got a whole new plan.

You’ve got a whole new goal to aim for. You’ve got something to do. And at the end of the day, you’ll know when you’ve done it. This is exactly what God wanted me to do. You have that sense of accomplishment. Life will start to feel good all over again.

I hope this helped you and get you guys going. Send me some feedback. Tell me if this blessed you. Tell me how it helped you. The Lord bless you. Amen.