Confronting Burnout at Work
Your work is part of your mission field, but that doesn’t mean that you are preaching and teaching at work. Your first step is to show up with the light of God’s love inside of you.
Let’s be honest – work is often not a safe space. It takes a lot of physical and emotional energy to keep showing up and to be positive at work. Burnout is rampant, especially among fields where you are serving people all day long. Your energy gets drained.
Jesus faced the same energy drain when he ministered. He fed people, healed people, taught people, managed a group of people, planned and organized activities, and still stayed true to his purpose. There were specific actions that he took to restore his energy and prevent burnout.
Hosanna Wong, in her book, You Are More Than You’ve Been Told, presented the idea of a trellis supporting us in our relationship with Jesus. Download the trellis worksheet.
The Vine and the Branches
John 15 1-3 “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.
4 “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
5-8 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.” (The Message)
The Rhythm of Scripture
· Jesus spent time in the temple and reading God’s word (even though he was God!)
· Scripture prepared him to combat the devil’s lies (see Matthew 4)
· A new way to engage with God’s words when reading the Bible just feels like another chore
· Examples: audio, video, apps, study groups, worship, writing, talking, texting, etc. See: https://www.hosannawong.com/scripture for ideas
How can you make scripture reading fresh and exciting for you? What are some ideas of different ways to engage with God’s word that match the way you learn?
The Rhythm of Prayer
See: https://www.hosannawong.com/prayer for ideas
Solitude
Examples: Mark 1:12; Mark 1:35, Luke 5:15-16; Luke 6:12-13; Matthew 14:13; Mark 6:31-32; Matthew 14:23; Matthew 15:29; Mark 14:32
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
I like to journal. Recently, I organized my journals and realized that from 2004 – 2019, what I wrote fit only one journal. I had depleted myself without investing in time of solitude.
In our busy lives, often filled with people, it can be hard to get away. But maybe we can snatch 10 minutes before we turn on the TV at night or take a walk around the block while everyone is occupied. We can turn off the music in the car and drive in silence while we talk to God. Or, we can plan a night away by ourselves.
What ideas do you have to fit some solitude into your life?
What are some ideas to slow down? Is there anything you can remove from your schedule? What would you like to change about your day to day?
Pray Specific Prayers
Philippians 4 6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (The Message)
Take some time this week to write down ALL the things that worry you, things you are struggling with, frustrations you have. Pray them as prayers to God, letting Him know your concerns.
Say Thanks
“The call to be thankful can sound a bit whimsical, perhaps bringing to mind thoughts of turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. And yet when you take intentional time to remember and recount what God has done in your life, the ways He’s shown up for you, the ways He has fought for you, the ways He’s been near when no one else was near, and you tell Him the reasons you’re thankful for Him, intimacy grows.” (Wong, p. 136)
I read somewhere that when we are saying thanks, the words overtake any negative messages we repeat to ourselves.
What are you thankful for?
The Rhythm of Rest
See: https://www.hosannawong.com/rest for ideas
Sabbath & Freedom
Exodus 20: 8-11 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.
Mark 2 25 Jesus answered, “Haven't you read what David did when he and his followers were hungry and in need? 26 It was during the time of Abiathar the high priest. David went into the house of God and ate the sacred loaves of bread that only priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his followers.” 27 Jesus finished by saying, “People were not made for the good of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for the good of people. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath.”
Approach the Sabbath not as a chore to complete, but as a gift of rest and freedom. Shut off notifications. Avoid looking at the news. Do something you enjoy. How could you carve out time to spend just enjoying rest and relaxation? No agenda, no expectations, just rest and freedom in enjoying life and the goodness of God.
Write down any ideas for carving out a Sabbath each week
The Rhythm of Real Community
Confession
“Just as God created a rhythm of rest into creation, He also interwove a rhythm of togetherness. God Himself is in perfect community with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—three in one. Made in His image and made to thrive in community, we were made for relationships. If we fight against the notion of seeking true community, or give up on its possibility, we are depriving ourselves from the natural rhythm we were made for.” (Wong, 2023, pp. 156-157).
Building relationships with others takes time. It’s messy and can be frustrating to schedule time together. But humans need relationships to thrive. We are built to be relational. For ideas, see: https://www.hosannawong.com/community
What is one step I could take to invest in a friendship over the next few weeks?
Celebration
Did you know that God create seven festivals for ancient Israel, as well as a weekly Sabbath? “Richard Foster said, “Celebration is central to all the Spiritual Disciplines. Without a joyful spirit of festivity, the Disciplines become dull, death-breathing tools in the hands of modern Pharisees.” If you feel your faith is dull, your spiritual walk mundane, and your natural response to the things of God to be uncharacteristically negative, I wonder if celebration in community has been void from your life’s rhythms.” (Wong, 2023, p. 163)
How can I build regular celebrations into my life with friends and/or family?
References & Books to Explore
Comer, John Mark. (2019). The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World. WaterBrook.
Wong, Hosanna. (2023) You Are More Than You've Been Told: Unlock a Fresh Way to Live Through the Rhythms of Jesus. Thomas Nelson.
