{"id":11,"date":"2016-08-01T19:23:47","date_gmt":"2016-08-02T00:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/?p=11"},"modified":"2017-09-15T12:56:24","modified_gmt":"2017-09-15T17:56:24","slug":"feeling-tired-and-worn-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/feeling-tired-and-worn-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Feeling Tired and Worn Out?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feeling tired and worn out??<\/b><\/p>\n

Identifying and avoiding burnout<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

What is your greatest challenge in ministry?<\/span><\/p>\n

I am sure you could find many ways to answer this question, but one common answer is: <\/span>exhaustion<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The more I connect with pastors, leaders and ministry workers the more I am reminded that you are tired.. Your resources (physical, social, spiritual and emotional) are being stretched to the limit and you are on the edge of burnout. If this is you\u2026 you are not alone\u2026 But your life doesn\u2019t have to be this way. <\/span><\/p>\n

In ministry this exhaustion can be common because the work is never finished. There are always more needy people to serve, more souls to save, more brokenness to address and more prayers to offer. So what do you do if you are exhausted? <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a couple thoughts that I hope will help you. (<\/span>Read more at<\/span><\/i> churchleaders.com<\/span><\/i><\/a>) <\/span>[1]<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Pay attention to yourself<\/span><\/i>. In 1 Timothy 4:16 Paul urges Timothy to \u201cwatch his life and doctrine closely.\u201d As leaders we should follow Paul\u2019s command to pay attention to ourselves. Self-examination is good and acknowledging exhaustion and burnout is the first step to righting yourself and getting healthy.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Learn to trust God<\/span><\/i>. Remember, your ministry is not yours \u2013 it is God\u2019s! Therefore, stop exhausting yourself thinking that success is dependent on you. Yes, God has chosen to use you but the kingdom does not rely on you. Trust that God will honor a healthy life balance and leave the rest to him. <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Recognize the need to balance your life and pace yourself<\/span><\/i>. Ministry is not a sprint; it is a marathon. Take a long term perspective and realize that often slowing down will make you more effective in the long-term. Create margins and give yourself breaks. Permit yourself to rest!<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Pay careful attention to your diet, exercise, and sleep patterns<\/span><\/i>. Don\u2019t underestimate the importance of staying physically healthy. God has provided all kinds of wonderful food for you to enjoy! It\u2019s important to eat in healthy moderation and establish an exercise plan. <\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Utilize others<\/span><\/i>. Learning to delegate is important. Ministry is not meant to be done alone. Follow the lead of Moses in Exodus 18 \u2013 it\u2019s OK to say no and to assign others with tasks. <\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Unload<\/span><\/i>. Do you have a close friend who is a loyal and good listener? If not, pray for one. Seek one out and cultivate a deep relationship with them, sharing your successes, challenges, and struggles.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Prioritize spending time with God<\/span><\/i>. In Mark 1:35, Jesus gives us one of the keys to avoiding overload, \u201cVery early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.\u201d It is important to listen to God for direction in your life. Remember your identity does not come from the tasks you accomplish but from your relationship with Jesus.<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Get help if you need it<\/span><\/i>. There is no shame in wanting to be wholistically healthy. One of the best things you can do for your ministry, yourself, and your family may be to visit with a trusted counselor who can provide insight and help you along the way.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you are feeling overloaded and exhausted, near the point of burnout, feel free to share that with me. I would love to pray and support you along the way. If you are interested I have also copied a self-assessment exercise at the bottom. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Growth Point:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Burnout is not God\u2019s design<\/span><\/p>\n

    Scripture Point:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Reflect on Matthew 11:28-30<\/span><\/p>\n

    Action Point:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Make it a priority this week to self-assess your personal health. If there are areas that need to be re-balanced, commit to making changes and asking others for help.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Self-Assessment Exercise<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

    Take the following test to see if you are headed for burnout. Choose the most appropriate answer for each of the following ten statements.<\/span><\/p>\n

    How often do you\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. almost always b. often c. seldom d. almost never<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      ___ 1. Find yourself with insufficient time to do things you really enjoy?<\/span><\/p>\n

      ___ 2. Wish you had more support\/assistance?<\/span><\/p>\n

      ___ 3. Lack insufficient time to complete your work most effectively?<\/span><\/p>\n

      ___ 4. Have difficulty falling asleep because you had too much on your mind?<\/span><\/p>\n

      ___ 5. Feel people simply expect too much from you?<\/span><\/p>\n

      ___ 6. Feel overwhelmed?<\/span><\/p>\n

      ___ 7. Find yourself becoming forgetful or indecisive because you have too much on your mind?<\/span><\/p>\n

      ___ 8. Consider yourself to be in high-pressure situation?<\/span><\/p>\n

      ___ 9. Feel you have too much responsibility for one person?<\/span><\/p>\n

      ___10. Feel exhausted at the end of the day?<\/span><\/p>\n

      Calculate your total score as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

      a = 4 points; (b) = 3 points; (c)= 2 points; (d)= 1 point<\/span><\/p>\n

      Total=__________ points<\/span><\/p>\n

      Your total number of points on this exercise will help you assess how stressed you are by overload. A total of 25-40 points indicates a high stress level, one that could be psychologically and physiologically debilitating\u2026thus leading to burnout. <\/span><\/p>\n

      [1]<\/span> http:\/\/www.churchleaders.com\/pastors\/pastor-how-to\/150219-ten-rules-to-avoid-ministry-burnout.html<\/span><\/p>\n

      Photo by\u00a0Jay Wennington<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Feeling tired and worn out?? Identifying and avoiding burnout What is your greatest challenge in ministry? I am sure you could find many ways to answer this question, but one common answer is: exhaustion. The more I connect with pastors, leaders and ministry workers the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-11","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-health-and-renewal","tag-burnout"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions\/14"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}