burned out.
We all know the saying, “don’t grow weary in well-doing.” Sometimes we aren’t even in the category of well-doing and we are growing weary! How many of us have been tempted to throw in the towel? I have. Many, many, many times.
Did you know that weariness is one of the most common enemies that we will face in our life journey? This enemy is very persistent and will stop at nothing to knock us down.
In Webster’s Dictionary, WEARINESS is defined as tired or fatigued, but it is also, “reluctance to see or experience any more of something.”
Now, I am not saying that there won’t be times in our lives where we don’t get knocked down. Life can be cruel and the Enemy wants to only steal, kill and destroy. That is his goal in life- to ruin ours! But weariness is born when we become unwilling to see or experience any more of what God has in store for us. We grown fatigued, we grow faint, but Holy Spirit wants to renew us again. He desires to re-fuel us.
Dealing with burnout can birth negative emotions, we can give in to negative self-talk and griping and complaining. We can even start to replay negative past experiences and give in to whining.
Proverbs 24:16 TPT says,
16 For the lovers of God may suffer adversity
and stumble seven times,
but they will continue to rise over and over again.
We become resilient with Holy Spirit. God gives us the resiliency to overcome weariness. Giving into weariness and burnout causes us to become a frown-faced, wrinkled-up, shriveled-up person who lives in the past. Mad because life didn’t go EXACTLY how you planned it. We all know someone like that I’m sure…
Now, working through a burnout can be a real complex mixture of of mental, emotional, physical, psychological, hormonal, chemical and spiritual issues all wrapped up into one. It can affect your mood, disposition, your energy levels, your sleep patterns, and ultimately your outlook on life. It almost becomes like a ball of yarn, interwoven so that when you pull on one thread, it feels as though the whole ball falls apart.
Handling burnout properly may not ONLY be rooted in the spiritual. It could be physical, it could be nutritional, it could be sleep patterns, or it could even be that you have surrounded yourself with the wrong crowd or community. It could be that maybe you need to cut off some relationships and build some new ones. That’s why it’s important to practice healthy self-care. Having a good prayer and worship life, physical exercise or activities, proper nutrition, edifying conversations and relationships, can help us walk in healthy self-care. And NO, ladies and gents, self-care isn’t retail therapy or buying Starbucks every time something wrong happens. Healthy self-care starts with realizing there is an issue then looking to God for help. It’s refusing to give into stress-eating and allowing your emotions to rule you.
Psalm 121:1 TPT says,
1 I look up to the mountains and hills, longing for God’s help.
But then I realize that our true help and protection
come only from the Lord,
our Creator who made the heavens and the earth.
We choose to look up!
If we wait until our emotions feel like moving on, then we never will.
2. See God as your source of strength!
What do we see when we look up? God, waiting for us seek Him.
3. We praise Him!
What do we do after we recognize that He is our place of strength, we praise Him. When we look up from our surroundings, we shift the atmosphere.
When we shift our focus from ourselves to God, we stray away from the negative and weary thoughts and patterns that occur in a burnout. All the thoughts that tells us to quit and to stay down, we hand them over to Christ.
There is a cure for burnout! There is a remedy in Holy Spirit for every condition of fatigue, weariness, and mental and emotional depletion. We must learn to continue to abide in Him and in the power of His Word. In Isaiah, one of my favorite books of the Bible, 40: 28-11 TPT says,
28 Don’t you know? Haven’t you been listening?
Yahweh is the one and only everlasting God,
the Creator of all you can see and imagine!
He never gets weary or worn out.
His intelligence is unlimited;
he is never puzzled over what to do!
29 He empowers the feeble
and infuses the powerless with increasing strength.
30 Even young people faint and get exhausted;
athletic ones may stumble and fall.
31 But those who wait for Yahweh’s grace
will experience divine strength.
They will rise up on soaring wings and fly like eagles,
run their race without growing weary,
and walk through life without giving up.
Maybe you have been trying to push through your burnout on your own strength? I know I have many times. I have tried the exercise and detoxing and clean eating, but nothing ever truly satisfies like the refreshing of Holy Spirit. God doesn’t get worn out, or fatigued or faint. Instead, He empowers us to keep going. He helps us shake off the dust of weariness so that we can continue moving forward.
If you feel like you are going through a burnout or just feel like weariness is taking over, I encourage you look up. Look for God. He is never far away. Go on a prayer walk, or take some time to worship on your commute. He longs to give you the strength you need to overcome your obstacles.
Let’s get through the burnout together.