I’ve been burned out more times than I can count. Some of them nearly destroyed me. The first time almost cost me my life. After years in a toxic environment, I was a 6-foot frame weighing barely 110 pounds, nothing but anxiety and nerves, quietly begging God to let it all end.
My marriage was falling apart after just three years. My wife was waking up in the middle of the night with night terrors. I was grinding my teeth while I slept. That’s just the short list.
I attended a conference once where they had everyone take a “burnout” assessment. I didn’t just score high — I failed it. I didn’t even know that was possible. After reviewing my results, the instructors sat me down for a very direct conversation about my future. The message was simple: if I didn’t change, I wouldn’t have one.
I’m guessing you can relate to me in at least one way.
The hardest part for me wasn’t just the burnout — it was having nowhere to go, no one to walk with me, no support system, and no idea what healing even looked like.
By God’s grace, my wife and I were able to save our marriage. More importantly, God restored our relationship with Him… and eventually, our ministry.
But none of it was clean or easy. It was messy. Painfully messy.
Burnout is emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress.
In other words — just another day in the life for many of us.
We’re living in a world that feels increasingly toxic and unstable. We’re constantly managing expectations, crises, disappointments, defenses, and responsibilities. And somewhere in all of that, we start asking: When will it end?
You already know the answer.
It doesn’t.
So instead of asking when the pressure will stop, maybe we need a better question:
How do we learn to thrive in the world we’re living in right now?
In the next post, I’m going to walk through several reasons why you might be experiencing burnout.
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