S3E1: Burnout and Exhaustion

Guys, I'm excited to jump in and kick off another Connect Online group. ⁓ I really enjoy our times together. I think they are beneficial, I think, for not only me, but I think for all of us when we get together and we think about our role and calling as a pastor and then really how to maximize longevity. And so ⁓ jumping into this new kind of time, this new semester together, we're gonna continue ⁓ with some topics that are I think geared to helping us. ⁓ avoid some of the pitfalls that that other people have made and to hopefully kind of bring some healthy rhythms and things into our life. And so, session one today is gonna be something that it sounds like common sense and sounds like things that we should all be aware of. But as we're gonna see, it's gonna be one of those things that we need to pay attention to. And so, session one is really all about dealing with burnout, burnout and exhaustion. And Whether you've been pastoring for you know a month or maybe four years or 10 years, 30 years, it doesn't really matter. ⁓ the truth is that any sort of thing we do with rhythm, some sort of a job or vocation, is going to come with some challenges, right? Any sort of thing that we have to do on a day-to-day basis is going to come with some challenges that can lead to burnout and/or exhaustion if left kind of unattended, and if we don't check and see what's going on. So The whole purpose of really getting together and being able to do this in the online format is hopefully we're building some relationships with others here, or we have people in our life that we can begin to have these dialogues with. And so while this particular study or any of them is not going to necessarily change your heart or your habits or your rhythms, hopefully it's going to open us up to some things that we can begin looking at. So when you think about the context of being a pastor, we have to juggle many, many things, many, many responsibilities. ⁓ from preaching to teaching to counseling to administration to planning to being social media experts to being experts on live streaming, to being experts on you, you fill in the blank. There's a lot of underlines there. ⁓ but basically, what that leads to is the opportunity for many of us to feel overwhelmed, overworked, and fatigued. And so there's some challenges there. And I believe that some of those challenges are are really brought to ⁓ our attention. ⁓ and and really exist because we feel like we always have to be available. We always have to be on. Meaning someone could call, text, you know, ⁓ shoot you a message, show up at your house, whatever. And we feel like we have to be on. And a lot of times, if I can be honest, I think pastors have a hard time setting what those boundaries are between, well, what is ministry and what is personal life? And the truth is, is that if we neglect rest. And if we neglect kind of that self-care and that self-discipline, ⁓ and we allow the demands of ministry to kind of impact us, then we're gonna see some impacts to our own spiritual health and possibly even emotional and and physical health down the road. And it's gonna lead to burnout, it's gonna lead to exhaustion. And so you can see a lot of statistics out there. I'll give you some of these. I know we've talked about them before, but it's always good to highlight. ⁓ but statistically speaking, 70% of pastors ⁓ Say they're extremely stressed or highly stressed. Let's just call it very stressed out. And it could be a lot of reasons, ⁓ from the financials to how to deal with your family, how to deal with everyone in the church, or just kind of things that are going on. 90% of pastors say they work between 55 and 75 hours a week. I'm going to tell you that that's not sustainable. In fact, in the marketplace, They would say that anything over 46 hours is a diminishing return, meaning that you're not going to get a lot of bang for the buck after hour 46. But we've got pastors that are printing in 55 and 75 hours a week, perhaps because they don't know how to say no, or perhaps because they feel like they've always got to be on. We we don't know, but that's the fact. And then another statistic ⁓ for pastors is that 90% feel fatigued and worn out every single week. So not just like once a year, or not just after the big Christmas or or Easter. Service, but they feel like that every week. That 90% feel like they feel fatigued and just exhausted each and every week. And there's a difference between the Sunday afternoon power nap, and when you think about just feeling this level of fatigue each and every week. And so I'm going to go over a couple of points here. I think things from the scripture that should get our will spinning and should lead to some great conversation here. ⁓ within kind of a small group context. And if you happen to be watching this video at some other time, I would encourage you to get some other ministry leaders around you, kind of go through this stuff because this is helpful stuff. These are things that we got to talk about. And so the first point I want to make is that rest is God's design. I know you may not be thinking about that, and that's not maybe what we want to hear because we can think about the laundry list of things that we have going on. But the idea of rest, that is God's design. I mean, we see it in Genesis, right? Genesis chapter two. We saw that i in the creation account that even God rested on the seventh day. So he was setting an example what it means to have rest and to Sabbath, right? Now that could be a whole talk. We could spend a lot of time just specifically dialing into that, but you're all pastors, you know where the scripture is. Go take a look at it. We also see in Exodus chapter 20, it says to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. On it you shall not do any work. You shall not do any work. And so When you think about that rest is God's design, it is God's design. It's it's what he intended for his children. It's what he's intended for us to do. And you think about kind of the lesson from this, we're going to think about framing this in the in the idea of kind of avoiding burnout and fatigue. God designed a rhythm of work and rest. Ignoring this and ignoring his design for it leads to burnout. So it's very simple. If we don't take the time out, we're going to burn out. And you might be saying to yourself, Bill, you don't understand. I've got 55,000 things to do. Well, it's like, welcome to the party, man. We all have 55,000 things to do. But the truth is that if we don't stop and rest and recognize that it's God's design, then we're going to burn out. There's got to be a rhythm of rest in our life. The second thing I want to kind of bring to our attention as we talk through it is that we need to rely on God's strength. It's one thing, and I know that there are many, many talented pastors and ministry leaders, perhaps a lot of them here are just watching it now. But we know a lot of talented people that God has just gifted us and gifted these ministry leaders in incredible ways. But oftentimes, if we're not careful, we can begin to rely on our own strengths and ability and not on the Lord's. Now it's interesting, we could see a couple of passages that may kind of spark some conversation. In Matthew chapter 11, verses 28 through 30, it says, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So when we are feeling weak, when we're feeling that difficulty, oftentimes we feel like we got to ramp it up, right? We got to drive harder. But yet the word of God reminds us that we are to come to God and He will give us rest. It says in Isaiah chapter 40, verses 29, 31, we get this idea that He gives power to the faint. And in him who has no might, he increases strength. And so the strength, the ability to do what we need to do comes from God. So it's really God's strength. So we think through, like, well, how does this really impact me? Well, burnout usually comes because of self-reliance. That there could be some pride in there, there can be some other things that are happening, but burnout comes because of self-reliance. But God, what did God say? We we just read a couple of verses here. But God calls us to lean on Him for strength, not on our own ability, not on the fact that I might need more time to do something, to push something to the finish line. We need to prioritize rest. We need to prioritize relying on God's strength. The other thing I'm gonna talk through, number three, I think is important as well, is that there should be a prioritization on spiritual renewal. Well, what does that mean? It means to prioritize your own spiritual growth. You and I can get so consumed as ministry leaders. On the spiritual growth of others that we can often neglect our own. But here we're reminded, and we'll see a couple of scripture verses here, that we got to prioritize spiritual renewal, that spiritual growth, even with our own heart. It says in Mark chapter one, verse 35, it says, and rising very early in the morning while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place where there he prayed. So we're thinking about even Jesus. Jesus even went to be alone with the Father, right? And so we think about the context of in his humanity. And the humanity, Christ's humanity, he knew that he needed to be in the presence of the Father. There need to be a ⁓ spiritual renewal, ⁓ a focus, if you will. Luke 5, 16 says, but Jesus often withdrew, and we see that he withdrew and he to lonely places and he prayed. So there's some significance there. And it makes me ask myself, self, how are you doing with getting away from the craziness of ministry in the world and just the demands of life? Well, I think the answer is that hopefully we're we're getting away and we're prioritizing our own spiritual growth. Because if we think about the lesson here, is that, you know, Jesus took time for solitude. Jesus took time for prayer. And he showed that there's an importance that that needs to be paid to spiritual refreshment. And maybe that's a word for some of us right now. Maybe we need some spiritual refreshment. I know sometimes we We might go to a conference or we might go to those things. And those are all great things. That can certainly be spiritually refreshing. But I think that there's a a weekly rhythm in this, and maybe even a daily rhythm. But again, something that you need to think with you because if you don't do it, you will burn out and you will have and and face kind of exhaustion at some level. Next thing I want to share, and this seems like it's just common sense, but it's it's worth mentioning, is that we need to learn how to share the burden. Feel the pain, if you will. It says in Exodus chapter 18, verses 17 through 23, we kind of get this this picture here. But Jethro advised Moses to delegate kind of the leadership and responsibilities. And I'm not saying you need to delegate everything off, but perhaps there are some things that you can delegate off to get you down from 55 hours to 40 hours. And maybe it may not be done at the highest level, but maybe it's just done. And it gives someone else the opportunity so we can share the burden. You know, trying to do everything alone and trying to be the person who does it all leads to exhaustion. And when we start to delegate and we we find community that that can come alongside of us and we're giving them opportunities to grow, then they start providing support. And it's crucial for us. It's crucial for you. It's crucial for your spiritual health. It's crucial for you so that you and I can avoid burnout. Next thing I to talk about, and it and it may sound just very simple, but I think these are practical things again. These are real all practical things that we're looking at. But number five is that we gotta learn how to set boundaries and be content with that, right? It's one thing to kind of set boundaries, but then we kind of retreat on it. But I mean to really set boundaries. To to understand that we've got to have boundaries in our life. One of the things, I know I've shared it before, but I like to share it. One of the things I picked up along the way in ministry is that. Well, on my day off, which happens to be Friday, Friday is my day off. And I'm bi vocational right now. So I work ⁓ at a local engineering firm and then I do, you know, the ministry and and everything kind of just works together. But Friday is my day off. Meaning, on Friday I I don't go have meetings. On Fridays, I don't work. Means practically on my calendar. If you're to look at my calendar and you were to ask me, Billy, hey, can we grab some coffee on Friday? I would tell you, well. I actually have something on my calendar already. And I actually do. It's a block of time. And the title of that time is something. Because it's I've got to set a boundary. I've got to say no to something. So I can say yes to my own spiritual health. So I can say yes to avoiding burnout and those sorts of things. Because the truth is that when we begin to overwork, we begin to think that we have to do everything, is that it begins to misplace our priorities. And it shows us. That we're we're we're beginning to put priorities in other things. But true peace and strength and all those things, they come from trusting in God. That we can rest, knowing that God's gonna grow the ministry as he sees fit, that God's going to do what he's gonna do in the ministries that he's allowing us to steward in his own timing. Me working extra and trying to go above and beyond while. I should give my best work, making it excellent, doesn't mean that I need to get every waking hour because that's going to lead to burnout. And again, overworking really kind of results in misplaced priorities and will lead to burnout and exhaustion. Again, things we're trying to avoid. And then finally, take care of yourself physically. I think one of the saddest things is that we've got pastors who are overworked. They're doing so many things that they can't even take care of their bodies. And I'm talking from their physical health to working out, stretching, whatever it is that you like to do, but to stay physically active, to take care of the temple, which the Lord has given us. I mean, we're stewarding this for his glory. And we're stewarding it so that we can further the kingdom in ⁓ the context of what he's called us to do in ministry. And we know our body. Is a temple of the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians talks about that. And and it's there to be able to glorify God. And if we're not taking care of ourselves physically, then that should be a a pretty good indicator of where things are going. That at some point we're going to burn out, some point we're going to have some sort of a failing. Some part, some point we're going to have some sort of physical ailment that's going to impact us in a negative way. And I don't know about you, but I want to see each and every one of you in ministry for as long as possible, for as long as God has called you to it. I don't want any of us to get taken out because we're not taking care of ourselves, because we're not doing the things that we need to do to avoid burnout and exhaustion. And so again, these are just some ideas to key get the conversation going. You may have things that that maybe you have found to work really well for you, and I would encourage you to share those. Well, the folks that you kind of go over these questions with that were that we're going to do here in a few minutes. I think it's critical because if we don't change their trajectory, then I think many pastors are on. We're going to continue to see more and more pastors leave the ministry. We're going to continue to see more and more pastors frustrated with where they're at versus where God has called them to be. And then we're going to see them physically not in a good place, mentally not in a good place, and of course spiritually not in a good place. So let's do something different. Let's be the generation that ushers in a change in accountability to make sure the pastors can avoid burnout and exhaustion. And then I say, once we're doing that for ourselves, man, let's let's put this in front of our staffs and make sure they're doing it too. Let's be the example, let's be the picture of the destination so that the future generations of those who are doing ministry see that it's not just grind, grind, grind. It's like we get to glorify God and it's a beautiful thing. We get to work hard, but we also get to recharge and refresh in the Lord. So I hope you all have a great time going over these questions and kind of talking through maybe how these things apply to you. I'm believing God is going to do some amazing things through this work. And I pray that you all are doing ministry for as long as you possibly can.