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Dealing With Burnout

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
Psalms 130:1

If you burn the candle at both ends, you are not as bright as you think! There are times when we all work harder, accomplish less, become fatigued, irritable and cynical, and lose our sense of humor. The Psalmist was there, "Help, God - the bottom has fallen out." If that describes how you feel at the moment, here are two helpful suggestions:

1) Learn to reach for others. The Bible says that on the seventh day, "God...rested from all his work..." (Genesis 2:3). And rest is still one of His priorities for your life. But that can be a problem when you are a one-man band. Even Moses had trouble sharing the responsibility of keeping two million Israelites happy in the wilderness! Finally, he told God, "I cannot carry all these people...the burden is too heavy...put me to death...now" (See Numbers 11:14-15). Wow! That is major burnout! What was God's response? "I never told you to do it all yourself. There are talented people all around you just waiting to be asked. Involve them. Do that and everybody will be blessed."

2) Reject perfectionism. Chuck Braun of Idea Connection Systems, gives all his trainees 'a mistake quota'. It works like this: each student can make up to 30 mistakes during a training session with nothing to worry about. If anyone uses up all 30, Braun gives them another 30, then another. The result? They learn to see their mistakes as a creative process and begin thinking of them as part of the learning curve. You need to do that too!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the mistakes I make, help me learn from them so that I can be more useful to you – rested! In Jesus' Name, Amen