How to know if you are burned out:
Let me be honest… if you searched for, found, and are reading this article because you think you are burned out, then you most likely are. There is nothing wrong with being burnt out, it happens to everyone. Your pastor, your tech director, and even to people working 9-5 jobs. This post is mainly geared toward worship leaders and explaining how I have dealt with burnout in the past, but if you are not a worship leader then feel free to keep reading. You may be able to take something from it.
My personal experience with burnout:
At the beginning of my second year of college (right in the middle of COVID, mind you) I had quite the burnout. I set high expectations for the year and for myself. I got a student leadership position on campus, there was a church looking at me to be their worship leader, I had just gotten a promotion at my job. I had worked really hard all summer and I was looking to reap the benefits of it.
Cut to 2 weeks into the semester: small things start piling up on me. My car broke down on my way home from church one night (that night is a whole story of its own, but it turned out fine after a month of fixing things), a few close friends of mine decided that they wanted to leave the church, my grades were slipping, and this all started to pile up and my job performance got worse, which led to me getting in trouble at work. After this, I got so overwhelmed that I was not able to stay at that church for very long.
The good news of this story is that everything worked out in the end, but that is not the point of this article. Looking back, each one of these things seems small, but altogether at once, it felt like a lot more.
What does The Bible say?
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psa. 16:11, ESV) This is one of my favorite verses. David is praising God in this Psalm for never abandoning him. For those of us struggling with burnout, we have peace in knowing that God is beside us. This may not fix our burnout automatically, but it is important to know before we look at what “fixes” it.
James 1 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:2-5, ESV) The trials that we encounter will help us become better and more mature Christians. Once again, we can count it as joy when we get burned out or discouraged, because in the end it will work out for our good.
Practical steps to fixing burnout
As worship leaders, preachers, tech volunteers, etc., we often struggle to fix burnout, because the most common way to fix it is to take a break. This begs the question: how do we fix burnout when time away is not necessarily an option?
- Seek refuge in the scriptures- many people across the scriptures have been burned out. Read the stories of Job, David, Paul, and more and you will find that God brought them through burnout.
- Prayer- Follow the model in Matthew 6 of the Lord’s Prayer. Don’t ask to just be automatically filled up or happy again. Jesus prayed for DAILY bread. Pray for God to just give you the strength to continue day by day. Trust that the Lord will provide the means to get through.
- Surround yourself with people- one of the biggest tools the enemy has against people is isolation. In fact, Genesis 2:18 says that it is not good for man to be alone. When you feel burned out, seek out those who are able to help you recover and will lift you up when you are down.
- TAKE TIME OFF- Okay… so I said that I was going to avoid this one, but it really is essential. Taking a rest is good. Everyone needs to. If you feel burned out, the best way to get filled up is to stop pouring out. Make sure that you do not take time off and completely isolate. The most effective way to beat the burnout is all 4 of these steps at once.
Final Notes
Burnout is a normal thing for anyone who has ever lived- that does not mean that we should not take it seriously. If you are struggling with burnout, please talk to your pastor or elders to get on the road to recovery from it.
Daniel Floring Music 