Burned out. Out of gas. No energy. Running on empty. Exhausted. Have you ever felt this way? I have had more days like this than I care to admit. There are times when I have so much on my plate that I can actually feel myself shutting down both mentally and physically. I am unable to think without feeling as if I am walking through a thick fog, and even the simplest of tasks become hard to accomplish. Could I actually be suffering from “burnout”?
Burnout: physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress.
As a busy wife and mom with a full-time job and ministry, life can be overwhelming at times. But I don’t want to live my life “running on fumes”. Fumes are toxic and dangerous to inhale. They do nothing to sustain life. They are often fatal. When I allow myself to give in to burnout and become physically and mentally shut down, I not only risk my physical, mental and emotional well being, but I am unable to function as the person God has created me to be.
Burnout is caused from stress and overwork. When I feel as if the world is caving in around me, I must take an internal inventory, take my spiritual temperature and ask God for His wisdom and guidance. The best thing that I can do when I find myself running out of gas is to pull into God’s gas station and ask for a “filler up”! His Word is life to my soul and fills my tank with spiritual gas so that I can hit the ground running again.
With God, my burden is light.
For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:30 NLT)
He cares for me.
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)
He is my strength.
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
He gives me rest.
He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. (Psalm 23:2)
He keeps me in perfect peace.
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you! (Is. 26:3)
Are you feeling burned out today? If so, pull into God’s gas station and ask for a “filler up”! And make sure you don’t pull out of the station until your tank is filled to overflowing!
Thanks for the excellent post, Barbie! When I feel the burnout coming on, I deliberately pull away from everything and put my head into my Bible. It’s the best way I know how to stay balanced in my crazy life as full-time cargiver to a retired-due-to-health-issues husband, homeschooling Mom, and Sewing Business/Faith Blogger. Can’t think of a better way to fill up than to have His words pour over me. 🙂 Happy Sunday!
I wish I could say I had the discipline to “deliberately pull away and put my head in the Bible”. But I am learning that this is the only thing that truly fills.
Barbie, that is a very timely word! I think I get overwhelmed just thinking about a new school year and it hasn’t even started yet! ;). Thank you!
Praying grace over you as you begin the school year!
Words of wisdom Barbie! I am up at 4:46 because I’ve been awake since 4am. I need to have this time to focus on the Lord while my family sleept — to fill up.
Jesus said that we could not live on bread alone, but we needed the Word of God. If we could see what the Word does to our physical bodies in the natural we would probably be amazed!
God bless you today!
Beth
Wow you are up early! My alarm goes off about 30-45 mins before I have to get up in the morning and it’s a fight to crawl out of that warm bed. Thanks for stopping by here!
Oops, that was supposed to say “sleeps” above.
I feel that way all the time. But I always make it trough. 🙂 Found you via Mommy-Mondays, nice to meet you.
Thanks for stopping by. Please visit again soon!
Well said, Barbie! Great words of encouragement. We can’t give out what we don’t have. Blessings to yoU!
Giving out of the overflow! Thanks for stopping by Kristi!