When you’re about to burnout, you have one option: rest. Rest, or die. You will succumb to the latter—perhaps not physically, but mentally and emotionally.
The things you enjoy turn into burdens. Simple tasks become herculean challenges. You feel it in tense muscles, a mind that won’t be quiet, emotions that overreact to every little thing. You are falling apart.
If you deny the problem, burnout will occur. Your work and craft will suffer, as will the people around you. Burnout never takes out only you; it’s a bomb going off. It leaves a radius of destruction.
The only counter is to admit the problem. You need rest. You require a break. Doing so isn’t giving up; it’s an acknowledgement that you are inadequate. You need help—from God and others.
More importantly, you must remember who God is and who you are. God, who made all things, upholds all things. As your Savior, he is your good father and shepherd. He takes care of you because he’s chosen and adopted you.
He chose you. Remember that. Cling to the promise. He chose you for this time and place, and he made you for it. You are never alone; he is with you always, even when burnout looms.
When it does, it’s a signal: you need to stop what you’re doing. Rest. Remember who God is. Delight in who you are in him. Be reminded that you are not meant to do life alone. God makes you adequate, not you or your abilities. He gives you people to help during the slog days.
Run to him when you’re about to burnout. Go to his people and ask for help. He cares for you, always and forever. He has provided a way of escape, and it’s found in him and his church.
Image: Serge Saint (Creative Commons)