Lately I’ve been feeling tired all the time, easily irritated, and completely unmotivated—like I’m running on empty. Is this burnout? And if it is, how do I recover when life doesn’t seem to slow down?
Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It builds slowly. And it seems like you might be experiencing it. The feeling of fatigue that sleep doesn’t fix, irritability you can’t shake, joy that feels out of reach. As a therapist, I often hear people say, “I’m doing everything I’m supposed to, and I’m still exhausted.”
Part of the problem is that we’ve confused productivity (doing lots of stuff) with purpose and busyness (never stopping) with worth. We push our bodies, minds, and spirits to perform, then wonder why we feel so disconnected and dry. But you weren’t created to run non-stop.
In the bible, the first thing that humans ever do is rest with God. They are made on Day 6 and told what they will do–tend and keep the garden. But to make sure that they do not run non-stop, God starts with rest (Day 7), and then builds rest into the weekly rhythm of his people (the Sabbath). You see, rest isn’t just about recovery. We push too hard and then try to rest to “fill up the tank.” Rest is more like resistance. It is what we need to do to prevent burnout. It is the pause button in a performative world.
From a psychological perspective, rest restores mental clarity, reduces stress hormones like cortisol, and helps reset emotional regulation. From a physical standpoint, recovery is essential for growth. Muscles don’t rebuild in the workout—they rebuild in the rest. Without it, strength plateaus and we get injured. Occasionally, every athlete needs a “de-load.”
The same is true for your soul. The Sabbath is God’s built-in antidote to burnout. Sabbath is the moment when we stop believing, “I have to hold everything together,” and remember that God already is.
So how do you begin? Try this. Do NOTHING productive for 4 hours one day this week. Unplug your devices. Go for a meandering walk in the woods. Notice the beauty of creation. Find a nice spot to sit and do a sensory grounding exercise (listen to Going Deeper for the “how to”). Eat a ridiculously delicious leisurely meal and as you eat, thank God for it.
Burnout isn’t just a sign that you’re doing too much. It’s a sign that you’ve forgotten how to rest. And God, in His mercy, invites you back—not to perform, but to pause. Sabbath isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom.Let it reset your soul.Lately I’ve been feeling tired all the time, easily irritated, and completely unmotivated—like I’m running on empty. Is this burnout? And if it is, how do I recover when life doesn’t seem to slow down?
Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It builds slowly. And it seems like you might be experiencing it. The feeling of fatigue that sleep doesn’t fix, irritability you can’t shake, joy that feels out of reach. As a therapist, I often hear people say, “I’m doing everything I’m supposed to, and I’m still exhausted.”
Part of the problem is that we’ve confused productivity (doing lots of stuff) with purpose and busyness (never stopping) with worth. We push our bodies, minds, and spirits to perform, then wonder why we feel so disconnected and dry. But you weren’t created to run non-stop.
In the bible, the first thing that humans ever do is rest with God. They are made on Day 6 and told what they will do–tend and keep the garden. But to make sure that they do not run non-stop, God starts with rest (Day 7), and then builds rest into the weekly rhythm of his people (the Sabbath). You see, rest isn’t just about recovery. We push too hard and then try to rest to “fill up the tank.” Rest is more like resistance. It is what we need to do to prevent burnout. It is the pause button in a performative world.
From a psychological perspective, rest restores mental clarity, reduces stress hormones like cortisol, and helps reset emotional regulation. From a physical standpoint, recovery is essential for growth. Muscles don’t rebuild in the workout—they rebuild in the rest. Without it, strength plateaus and we get injured. Occasionally, every athlete needs a “de-load.”
The same is true for your soul. The Sabbath is God’s built-in antidote to burnout. Sabbath is the moment when we stop believing, “I have to hold everything together,” and remember that God already is.
So how do you begin? Try this. Do NOTHING productive for 4 hours one day this week. Unplug your devices. Go for a meandering walk in the woods. Notice the beauty of creation. Find a nice spot to sit and do a sensory grounding exercise (listen to Going Deeper for the “how to”). Eat a ridiculously delicious leisurely meal and as you eat, thank God for it.
Burnout isn’t just a sign that you’re doing too much. It’s a sign that you’ve forgotten how to rest. And God, in His mercy, invites you back—not to perform, but to pause. Sabbath isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom.Let it reset your soul.
