How I Avoided Burnout

Disclaimer, I’m not certain I did! Then again, I never had to miss any work, and I did not see a doctor, so maybe I avoided it, or jumped out of the vehicle just before it went off the cliff.

About six months ago, I woke up one morning and realized I only had one goal for the day – to be alive at the end of it! No kidding. I was honestly concerned that I might experience some type of malady, be it psychological or physical, that might sideline me that day. I prayed, breathed, and got out of bed. Needless to say, I did make it through that day.

Here was the situation I found myself in that day. I was stressed for several reasons:

• I was experiencing some very challenging ministry situations in my church.
  
• Simultaneously there were a lot of good things happening in our church, good things that took time.
• I was in a heavy fall semester of graduate work.
  
• I had overcommitted in my involvement with 200churches.
  
• The stress of “too much” was affecting me physically and psychologically.
  
• I could not see an exit ramp off the overcommitted highway for at least nine months, and I did not know if I could last nine months in that state.

That November morning, I did not know what burnout felt like, I had never experienced it, but I thought I was getting close to it. Of course, I did not have time to burn out. You know, who has time for a nervous breakdown, midlife crisis, an accident, a serious illness, a divorce, or an unexpected emergency of any kind?

I did not have the time or the luxury to walk away from any of my commitments, in my marriage, family, ministry, graduate work, or 200churches. I was getting to the brink, and it knew it, but I wasn’t sure what to do about it. I did not want to be another statistic.

That November morning, I prayed. And, I told God – “this is serious!” Like he didn’t already know, right? I told him I just needed help to get through that day, and to make it through that particular time in my life. I did a couple things, and God did a couple things (but I will give all the credit to God, of course!)

Here’s what I did:

• I prayed, as I said, and tried to stay in close contact and consultation with God.
  
• I talked to Dave Jacobs, the Pastor Coach. Just talking to him was a help. He did not try to fix me or take away the challenges, but we just talked.
  
• I took a break from our Monday/Friday blog posts between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
  
• I started to dig in regarding my graduate work. Impending deadlines added to the stress, so as I completed the work, the stress lessened.
  
• I began to talk more with others about the difficulties I was experiencing.
  
• I moved decisively into conflicts and problem situations. They never turn out as bad as you fear they will.
  

Here’s what God did:

• He allowed me to connect with, and talk to, key people who could help me.
  
• He worked out the ministry challenges I was facing at that time.
  
• He made true on his promise of providing rest for my soul. I went to him, as I was weary and over burdened, and he gave me rest.
  
• He provided Dave Jacobs as a personal spiritual and ministry advisor (he says “coach”)
  
• He held me together as I finished the academic semester and found relief.
  

God allowed me to work with him to help me avoid complete burnout. Not to say I won’t crash sometime now in 2014 – but I don’t think I will. Every time we experience deep struggle, we get better and stronger. I’m still overcommitted, just not as much so. I have put a couple systems in place to help me, and I know that this summer I will finish my graduate degree and my load will get considerable lighter.

If I may, let me share one observation: I have deep passion for the major areas of my life. Family, God, ministry, academics, and encouraging pastors of small churches through 200churches.com. When you are passionate about something, you will find energy and strength for it. If you are not passionate, you cannot drum up enough energy even for the smallest task, especially when you are in burnout mode. Make sure that the responsibilities you decide you need to keep, and are called to, are ones you are passionate about.

Finally, if you are overwhelmed right now,

• DUMP the things you are not passionate about, and 
  
• commit to ONLY what you know God is calling you to. 
  
• Scale back on things you cannot quit. Don’t quit, that’s fine, but just scale back.
  
• Pray, pray, pray – and trust in the power and love of God for your life.
  
• Talk about your challenges with a person or people you can trust. We can’t do it alone.

This Wednesday, episode 66 will feature our conversation with Pastor Kevin Pringle, an inner-city pastor from Lincoln, Nebraska. The topics we will touch on are burnout, equipping your people to serve and lead, and race in the church.

Kevin shares his own story of how he was staring down burnout, and how he was able to avoid it. He is a happy, joyful, man of God! You will be encouraged as much by Kevin's ready laugh as you will the great message he shares!

---