Flood Victims are Prime Candidates for Burnout. Here’s How You can Help
Property Damage
The flood waters that recently engulfed southeast Louisiana destroyed houses, businesses, and infrastructure. The carnage is unfathomable, really. The dollar amount of damage is estimated at 8.7 billion.
The emotional and psychological damage, however, is inestimable.
People have lost jobs, family heirlooms, life’s savings, and dignity. The road to recovery is a long and arduous one that victims cannot traverse alone. Simply put, the flood victims need our help. Thankfully, these victims have been receiving a lot of just that.
It’s been uplifting to see so many run to the aid of their fellow man during this crisis. Construction crews, cooking crews, and laundry crews, are just a few ways that people are meeting the physical needs of these victims. Rightfully so.
The book of James urges us to put legs on our compassion in this manner.
James 2:14-26
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Heart Damage
Although the flood waters have receded, the aftershocks continue to assail families, marriages, and psyches. Such prolonged stress can lead to burnout and its array of damaging fallout.
Read my previous post on my own case of burnout here.
Therefore, while we need to continue to meet the physical needs of our suffering neighbors, we must not neglect their inner needs. Doing so would enable the destruction of something much more precious than houses, vehicles, and bank accounts.
The flood carried with it not only 20 inches of water but various sources of stress that can lead to burnout.This level of burnout has the potential to split marriages, fracture families, and ruin ministries careers forever.
Here are three major sources of stress from the flood.
- PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder):
The trauma of losing everything brings with it a deep emotional blow to the psyche. Victims don’t have time to stop and address the pain now as they must feverishly focus on getting a roof back over their heads. Eventually, if the trauma is not dealt with, however, it will fester and take a crushing toll on the heart and mind.
- Long-Term Wear and Tear:
The road to recovery is only beginning. It’s more likely to take years than months to recover the financial and physical loss. This extended time period of physical and mental taxation has the ability to emotionally, mentally, and spiritually bankrupt even the strongest of individuals.
- That “trapped” Feeling:
The victims are going to feel as if they have to work around the clock to recover their losses. They are going to want to take breaks and vacations yet not be able to. They have neither the money nor the time. There’s so much to be done and so much to be recovered.
The trap has sprung and they are caught.
This constricting sensation of bondage can lead to a multitude of debilitating side-effects including depression and deep-seated anger. Some of the victims will find themselves looking for ways to exercise liberty over this bondage by acting out. These responses come in the form of self-destructing behaviors such as extramarital affairs, violence, illegal drug use, gluttony, and alcoholism, just to name a few.
Bearing in mind the gravity of these threats and their consequences, it behooves us to pay special attention to the inward condition of our suffering friends and neighbors.
How can you help
Perhaps you want to help the victims deal with their inward person but you don’t know how. Here are four ways that you can make a difference.
1. Be their Support System:
As mentioned earlier, these victims will not have the inner strength to walk through the entirety of this tragedy alone; they must be carried part of the way. At journey’s end, they will need oil poured into their wounds and to be nursed back to health.
Do you know someone with whom you can walk throughout the process? Not just for a week or month but until their strength has fully returned.
Will you call and text them? Will you invite them over? Will you listen to what they’re saying as well as what they’re NOT saying? Will you keep an eye on the condition of their relationships?
2. Encourage them to Believe for Miracles
1 Corinthians 10:13 says:
There hath no temptation taken you but such is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
I believe in miracles. I’ve experienced life-changing miracles. The flood victims are in need of miracles. There are going to be times when the victims will experience waves of hopelessness as the obstacles seem to mount as the recovery process slows to an imperceptible creep.
Encourage victims to maintain a bold faith until God provides their “way of escape”. Their faith is going to get tired. In these moments, have faith for them. Believe on their behalf, pray on their behalf, and speak positively on their behalf.
You might be the difference between them either receiving a miracle or coming up short.
3. Encourage them to Seek a Time of Healing
After the physical work is done and people are back into a routine, encourage the victims to seek a time of rest and healing. This season of rest is crucial for two reasons:
First…Renewed strength and healing of wounds can only come through rest.
I spoke earlier of PTSD and long-term fatigue. The body and mind are wounded deeply by these assaults. Rest is imperative in order for these wounds to heal.
Second…Introspection comes during times of rest.
Flood victims are going to need some time to search their hearts for any bitterness, anger, or doubt that may have wedged its way into the recesses of their hearts throughout this taxing season.
Such revelations about oneself require extended times of reflection. Once the brick and mortar is back into place, encourage the victims to turn their eyes on their inner self.
Recommend that they take a leave of absence from any leadership positions and cumbersome extracurricular activities that are not necessary for employment.
God can only speak if we slow down and create a space for Him to do so.
4. Encourage them to BE CHANGED
These victims are not in the frame of mind to hear this right now, but God does use our trials as a springboard for growth. Believe, pray, and speak this into their lives. When the timing is right, encourage them to be on the look for one of those life-altering personal growth moments-the kind that doesn’t come around very often.
On the other side of this devastation, God is going to build into these individuals a greater strength and compassion than they’ve ever known. Such growth will elevate their ability to minister to those around them to a beautiful, new level.
It truly is as the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:28.
“All things work together for God for those that love God and are called according to His purpose.”
Even in the aftermath of a 1,000 year flood.
I would love to hear from you in the “comments” section below
How are you currently helping the victims? If you are a victim, what is the best way that people are helping you right now? What could be added to this article that would be of benefit?
Loved it! Reminded me to not forget – but also gave me how-to.