Overcoming Burnout (Part 2)

Nehemiah Weekly Devotional

How would you rate your current mental and physical state?
Do you know how to overcome burnout?
Have you discovered the place of rest and wholeness?

OVERCOMING BURNOUT (PART 2)

The Bible is full of wisdom and practical guidelines that can help us maintain the victories and successes that we have won. The key to it all is maintaining our health – physical, spiritual, and particularly mental. No matter how willing our spirit (or our body) may be, if our mind is not willing or able to focus and engage due to fatigue, discouragement, or burnout, we will not be able to “finish the race set before us” (Hebrews 12:1) as God intends us to. 

How can we recover from a state of burnout? 

FIRST – our primary place of rest must be in God. The “rest that remains” referred to in Hebrews 4:9-10 goes far beyond a time set aside from our labor. For the Christian, Sabbath is much more than a day – it is a lifestyle of resting in the LORD. All of our work for Him must come out of our rest in Him. It’s when we begin to move out of our place of rest in God and into our own strength that we set ourselves up for burnout. We must acknowledge that He and He alone is the source of all of our strength. As you rest in Him, He will renew your strength (Hebrews 4:9-10; Mathew 11:28; Isaiah 40:31).

NEXT, we must prioritize (or re-prioritize) rest as a lifestyle, which is an absolute necessity for spiritual and emotional well-being. “Rest” in this sense encompasses our entire being – spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical. It involves not only the amount and quality of our sleep, but also maintaining an excellent diet and physical exercise, and time spent away from our calling, enjoying the things that engage us in a different way, such as music, reading, good company, or any other wholesome pastime.

Rest as a lifestyle is balance – green pastures and still waters as well as mountain tops – for the body, mind, spirit, and soul (1 Kings 19:5-6; Psalm 23:2-3).

THIRD, we must set healthy boundaries in our professional and personal lives to avoid over-commitment and excessive stress. This includes delegating responsibilities to others (Acts 6:1-7; 2 Timothy 2:1-2). 

FOURTH, while there may be a temptation to isolate ourselves, we must seek out others for support, encouragement, and accountability when we are feeling vulnerable (Hebrews 10:25).

FINALLY – We need to learn to recognize the patterns of our life that led to burnout, so that we can become more proactive to avoid it in the future. Believe me, you do not want to experience burnout more than once in your lifetime! It can take years to recover, and you may never recover fully, or just continue the cycle perpetually, if you aren’t aware of the patterns of your life that cause it. 

While in the place of rest, seek God’s Divine patterns that will balance your life so that you may finish the race with joy (Hebrews 8:5; Acts 20:24; Hebrews 12:2).

Are you somewhere in this cycle? If so, seek the LORD so that He may help you to transition from ‘falling off the mountain’ to rediscovering a place of rest and wholeness – so that you can rise up once more and soar on eagles’ wings.

My prayer for you is that God will give you the grace and wisdom to rediscover a place of rest and wholeness so that you can rise up and soar on eagles’ wings in the marketplace for His glory. 

This devotional is written by Pastor Steve Harris, the founder of Global Influencers, an organization that trains and equips leaders to establish anointed communities that transform nations by restoring Kingdom culture from grassroots to government in the villages, cities, regions, and nations of the world. He is also the Content Development Assistant in the Nehemiah Entrepreneurship Community.