It’s amazing what this journey of helping people from getting burnt out has become. I used to believe in the fallacy that people don’t need to be taught how to rest. That I was the only person who was bad at it! But it appears that rest is not a thing of second nature.
In today’s world where everything is so fast-paced and we’re all catching up, burn out is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. It’s prevalent in the office and unfortunately in homes. Marriages destroyed, children neglected, health suffering and hearts broken because we are neglecting the heart and practice of the Sabbath. Believe me, when I say, I know what it’s like.
The best route away from being burnt out is rest. It’s not trivial. But truth be told, we often get rest wrong. We think it’s simply dropping work. But how many times have we left the office only to have our minds still fixed on work? Or how many vacations have we taken where we said, “it’s just one email.” Rest is not rocket science, but we do miss out. And in missing out maybe some of you are saying, “it’s too late for me. I’ve already gotten myself too deep in overwhelm.”
It’s Not Too Late
A while back, Ces was having a conversation with a friend on Facebook Messenger. She was telling my wife how envious she was of the life we had. That we got to spend time as a family, go on vacations and enjoy life. My wife was trying to tell her that she could have the same life too, but her friend was just too convinced it was too late for her.
Friends, I’m here to tell you today that it’s never too late. You can make changes today. You are not a lost cause. In scriptures, Jesus once invited a crowd to “come to me.” And He wasn’t talking to people who had it all figured out. He was calling “all who are weary and burdened.” (Matthew 11:28-30) If you haven’t honoured the heart of the Sabbath, you can do it. You can even do it now! The first step is to come to Christ. Until we come to Christ, we will never experience true rest and be free from being burnt out.
Take Baby Steps
The biggest lie about change that we believe is that it should be radical. While I believe that it’s possible, it’s not very probable. The biggest changes in our lives start with small increments. Take a step back and ask yourself what small and incremental changes you can make to experience rest today.
Maybe it’s something as simple as a commitment to sleep an hour longer, to turn off your phone during lunch breaks, to spend 15 minutes listening to God’s voice in the morning. And the reality is when we make these commitments, we will fail the first few times. But the key is to keep getting up and trying again.
Is it ever too late for anyone to have a full life instead of a full schedule? Definitely! God is a God of improbabilities. He can give you life to the full (John 10:10). It won’t be easy, but when we make a decision to approach Christ and commit to small baby steps toward better living, you will find yourself conquering burnout in the near future!
