The Burnout Bible: How to tackle fatigue and emotional overwhelm naturally

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What does it mean to be “filled” with the Holy Spirit? How can a believer be filled? Can we always be more filled?

There is wisdom in considering our schedules and discerning what God is asking us to do. We can take on too much without ever consulting God about it in the first place. He will equip us for where He calls us. However, there may also be seasons of intensity in our circumstances which can bring us to our knees. Paul talks of all the sufferings and persecution he endured, yet he was not destroyed or crushed through them ( 2 Corinthians 4:8-10). He saw his suffering for the gospel in the light of eternal truth. Chandler, D. (2009). Pastoral burnout and the impact of personal spiritual renewal, rest-taking, and support system practices. Pastoral Psychology, 58, 273–287. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-008-0184-4. Dewa, C., Loong, D., Bonato, S., Thanh, N., & Jacobs, P. (2014). How does burnout affect physician productivity? A systematic literature review. BMC Health Services Research, 14(325), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-14-325.A woman asked D.L. Moody once, “Why do you talk so often about the need for being filled with the Holy Spirit. You always are stressing the need to be filled again and again. Why isn’t once enough to be filled?” Moody replied, “I leak.” Anderson, R. S. (1990). Christians who counsel: The vocation of wholistic therapy. Pasadena: Fuller Seminary Press. When it comes to the non-negotiable duties, these are the priority. If we are not handling them well, then we should not be taking on more duties to add to the pile. We want our homes running on all cylinders or our duties at work to be fulfilled before we look elsewhere for good things to do. “They made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept!” (Song of Solomon 1:6). Your own vineyard is your first priority. You Are Not Irreplaceable

The components of burnout have been associated with nursing job satisfaction, intent to turnover, absenteeism, low morale, deterioration of the quality of care provided, and nurse-reported quality of care variables (Maslach et al. 1996; Van Bogaert et al. 2013). Individuals experiencing burnout may also experience physical and psychological conditions such as depression, diabetes, hypertension, and irritable bowel syndrome (de Beer et al. 2016). According to Shanafelt et al. ( 2015), more than half of the physicians practicing in the United Stated are experiencing professional burnout. From the patient’s perspective, physicians experiencing burnout are less productive, more likely to make medical errors, and less likely to motivate patients to comply with the recommended medical treatments (Dewa et al. 2014; Schuman 2016). As such, physicians experiencing burnout are at an increased risk for malpractice and often earn low patient satisfaction scores (Dewa et al. 2014; Schuman 2016). The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.’ What about mercy ministry? The Good Samaritan didn’t exactly have the guy in the ditch written in his daily planner. Of course, we must be prepared to act instantly when confronted with drastic needs. But sometimes we go out beating the bushes, and there might be a person more equipped than you are to help. If you are busy administering first aid when there is a nurse standing behind you, then by all means, defer to her. Let her take over. Rubinart, M., Fornieles, A., & Deus, J. (2017). The psychological impact of the Jesus prayer among non-conventional Catholics. Pastoral Psychology, 66, 487–504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-017-0762-4. Zerubabbel must have been thinking, “This project will never get done!” The work had begun over 20 years before. It would still take another four years. But God assures Zerubbabel (4:9) that his hands, which had laid the foundation of the temple, would finish it. Eventually, it was completed.Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. (1997). The truth about burnout: How organizations cause personal stress and what to do about it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Is the high incidence of burnout because our day is inherently more stressful than previous times or because we are not relying on God’s Spirit as we should?

Burnout is often the result of self-reliance. The self-reliant take upon themselves the role of savior rather than trusting God to accomplish His own will. They begin to see every need as their call, rather than asking for God’s wisdom and direction. This can play out in a ministry setting when a pastor attempts to do the work of the entire Body of Christ, in a business setting when someone forces a certain plan or project, in a family setting when a parent takes responsibility for the success and happiness of a child, and in numerous other settings. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” ( Matthew 11:28-30). This is a wonderful summoning from our Savior, to come to Him when we are weary and burdened. He is the one who will give us the rest that we so deeply crave and that our bodies so desperately need. Burnout is physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual exhaustion and breakdown. It is usually caused by living at too fast a pace, for too long, doing too much. The word burnout is interesting because that is literally what is happening at a cellular level in the body. There is burning going on. Much of recent research has shown that people with depression or anxiety actually have inflamed cells. Fight or Flight . . . All the TimeThat is no insignificant task, because it involves displaying the light of God’s glory to a world that loves darkness rather than light! The apostle Paul said that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). The only way that such blind people can see is if, as Paul goes on to say, God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness” shines into their hearts “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” God does that by putting His treasure in earthen vessels, “that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves” (2 Cor. 4:6-7). Our task, as God’s people, is to be His lampstand, shining forth with His glory to this sin-darkened world.

At this point,God steps in. He gives Elijah sleep, nutritious food and evena40-dayexerciseprogramme– all helpful things when you’re grappling with mental ill health. But the cure is elsewhere. In the silence of his burnout,Elijah begins to hear God’s voiceagain, andthis is wherehealingand restorationcan take place. A study conducted by Pflugeisen et al. ( 2016) evaluated the effectiveness of a video-module-based mindfulness training program. Physicians participating in this study showed significant increases in mindfulness skills and reported decreased stress, increased sense of personal accomplishment, and decreased emotional exhaustion (Pflugeisen et al. 2016). Likewise, a study of psychologists conducted by Benedetto and Swadling ( 2014) found a strong negative correlation between mindfulness and burnout. Specifically, the study revealed that “four mindfulness facets, non-reactivity to inner experience, acting with awareness, describing and non-judging of inner experience were significantly negatively correlated with burnout” (Benedetto and Swadling 2014, p. 712). This led the authors to the conclusion that mindfulness-based techniques may be effective in preventing burnout (Benedetto and Swadling 2014). In addition, a negative relationship between the constructs of mindfulness and burnout was revealed in a study of 380 counseling interns (Testa and Sangganjanavanich 2016). The acting with awareness aspect of mindfulness was significantly related to both emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, suggesting that attending to moment-to-moment experiences helps facilitate greater awareness of one’s own emotions and feelings toward others. Consequently, this ability can support counseling interns’ understanding of their emotions, which may result in their being more equipped to regulate their emotions and develop emotional coping skills and therefore prevent a strain on their emotional resources—a key factor in the development of burnout (Testa and Sangganjanavanich 2016). As we saw in our study of Ezra 3, many of the old timers wept when they saw this puny temple because they compared it to the glory of Solomon’s temple. God refers to this group in verse 10: “For who has despised the day of small things?” From the perspective of world history and the then-mighty Persian Empire, of what significance was this little band of Jews who were attempting to reconstruct a place of worship out of the ruins of Jerusalem? Their project certainly would not have made any headlines! Remember that God cares and He will give you rest ( Matthew 11:28-30). Pray to Him knowing He hears and cares for you. Beebe, R. S. (2007). Predicting burnout, conflict management style, and turnover among clergy. Journal of Career Assessment, 15, 257–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072706298157.God is saying to Zerubbabel (and us) that small is great if God’s eye is upon it. The seven eyes of God (4:10) signify God’s full attention and care. The point is that God, who sees everything on the face of the earth, takes note of Zerubbabel’s building project and that God delights in it. I’m sure most women know what I mean by the phrase burned out. Burnout is what happens to us when we take on too much, and we simply hit the wall. Those duties you once enjoyed have piled up way too high, and now you don’t feel like carrying them anymore. They are heavy. They are hard. They are too many. And you are tired. The duties themselves have not changed — you have. Zechariah’s fourth vision (chapter 3) encouraged Joshua the high priest with the message: “God will cleanse His chosen people through Messiah and use them to serve Him.” His fifth vision (chapter 4) encouraged Zerubbabel, the civic leader, with the message: “The temple that you have begun will be completed and My people will become a light unto the nations under Messiah. This will not be accomplished by human effort, but by My Spirit.” In the fourth vision we saw the cleansing that is necessary before anyone can serve God. In the fifth vision we see the testimony that results from a cleansed and Spirit-filled life. While our text will ultimately be fulfilled with Israel in the Millennium, it also applied to God’s people in Zechariah’s day and it applies to us as we seek to be God’s light to the nations. Han, J., & Lee, C. (2004). Ministry demand and stress among Korean American pastors: A brief report. Pastoral Psychology, 52, 473–478.