Rest in Him: Avoiding Burnout in a Busy Life

Have you ever found yourself running on empty — overwhelmed by deadlines, endless to-do lists, and the pressure to do it all? In this episode of the Confidence in God podcast, host Julie McGhghy shares a candid and relatable look at burnout — what it is, why it happens, and most importantly, how to avoid it.

Drawing from Matthew 11:28-30, Philippians 2:13, and other scriptures, Julie offers practical, faith-based strategies to help you operate in your God-given giftings, examine your motives for serving, and stay connected to God — your ultimate power source.

Whether you're juggling ministry roles, family responsibilities, or a demanding work schedule, this episode will encourage you to serve from a place of passion rather than obligation, and to find genuine rest in Jesus.

Resources: 

God’s Footstool: How Creation Draws Us Closer to Him 

Shifting Focus: Turning Moods into Moments of Praise 

Additional Resources 

Timeline: Total Time 15:14 

| Timestamp | Section | 0:00 | Intro & Welcome
| 0:11 | "Have You Ever Had One of Those Days?" — Context Setting
| 1:05 | Julie's Current Season of Busyness & Why She's Recording
| 2:22 | What Is Burnout? — Definition & Biblical Perspective (Matthew 11:28-30)
| 3:51 | The Pharisaical Burden & Relevance Today
| 5:16 | Tip #1 — Serve in Your God-Given Giftings
| 7:19 | Tip #2 — Examine Your Motives (Ephesians 2:8-10)
| 8:07 | Jesus Modeled Rest — Mark 6:31
| 8:47 | Tip #3 — Stay Plugged Into God (2 Corinthians 3:4-6, Philippians 2:13)
| 9:54 | Action #1 — Be in God's Word Daily (James 1:22, Acts 17:11)
| 10:33 | Action #2 — Be in Prayer Daily & Seek God's Voice (John 5:30, Psalm 95:7)
| 12:09 | Wrap-Up Reflection — How This Episode Energized Julie
| 12:41 | Summary & Encouragement
| 13:37 | Resources & Related Episodes

Transcript

0:00

Hello, and welcome to the Confidence in God podcast. I am your host, Julie McGhghy, and our goal today is to help you walk with confidence in God. Have you ever had one of those days? If you've listened to many of the Confidence in God podcast episodes, you've heard me ask that question in a couple of different contexts. The first was when I explained a day in which I felt really irritable, cranky, ready to jump down someone's throat. In other words, I felt very human. In the episode,"Shifting Focus: Turning Moods into Moments of Praise," we considered how to turn such a day around. In a more recent episode, I asked that question in the context of having a day when you knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that God was with you. In that episode,"God's Footstool: How Creation Draws Us Closer to Him," I encouraged you to see God through His creation and feel Him drawing you closer. Today, I ask the question for a much different reason. This has just been an unbelievably busy day. In fact, it's just an unbelievably busy time for me, and that busyness has created pressures on me that I haven't experienced in a really long time and has edged me toward burnout. As I have made list after list after list to help keep me focused on the things I must get done before leaving on a ministry trip next week, and as I've walked through the house doing cleansing breaths every few minutes, I remembered how God has taught me to avoid burnout. You might ask,"Why are you recording this podcast episode if you are so busy?" Well, the answer is because it is one of the things I need to complete before I leave town, and I'm happy to do it despite the pressure to get everything done. In fact, almost everything on my to-do list are things I really enjoy doing. But there are deadlines to meet. Because of my travel plans, they all converge onto a single day. Today I want to focus on how to avoid burnout because of our unbelievably busy schedules. Although most everyone has an idea of what burnout is and has likely experienced it a time or two in their lives, I want to define it just to ensure we are all talking about the same thing. Generally, burnout means exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation, usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration. Have you experienced burnout? Sometimes burnout comes from the vast number of things you are trying to do, such as manage the home and finances, raise the children, teach Sunday school, sing in the choir or the praise team, or a myriad of other things you do in the church, and working outside the home. Burnout affects both men and women when things pile up on them until they are so stressed or frustrated that they no longer have the physical or emotional strength to do anything. Does the Bible say anything about burnout? Yes. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus calls us to come to Him when we are heavily burdened, exhausted, and overwhelmed by our labors. By doing so, we find rest in Him as we work according to His calling and according to His ways, following His example. In this scripture, Jesus was specifically addressing the heavy burden of the system of works the Pharisees had laid on the backs of the Jewish people to ensure they did not violate God's laws. Bible scholars have determined that the Pharisees had added over 600 regulations in a legalistic fashion in order for them to keep God's commandments and live holy lives. This legalistic system of works was too great a burden for the people, so Jesus was offering the people rest. Today, we no longer strive to adhere to the Pharisaical regulations in order to achieve our salvation. But at the same time, we tend to extend ourselves into many different ministry roles on top of our daily responsibilities of managing a household and making a living. The extension into these roles on top of those responsibilities often leads us to exhaustion and frustration because we eventually get to a place where we know we are doing a lot, but don't feel like we are doing anything well. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not encouraging you to back out of serving the Lord and maintaining your daily responsibilities. No. Instead, I want to give you some ways to ensure you are operating in the roles God wants you to. One thing I learned over the years is that burnout is more likely to happen to me when I am doing things outside the giftings God has given me. For example, I admit that I am not a person who really enjoys being around babies, and yet, like many young people who are starting families, my first ministry role was working in the nursery. Eventually, I graduated to teaching the four and five-year-olds. Both of these roles exhausted me Why? Because I wasn't good with that age group. I didn't really enjoy time with them. I didn't feel like I related to them, and I certainly didn't believe I was doing a good job at it. But when I was asked to teach the high school class, oh, what a difference. Why? Because I love working with teenagers. I love working with people who can think on their own and express their own dreams, desires, opinions. Even if those opinions conflict with my own, that is okay because one of my giftings is communicating with people, accepting where they are in their lives and thought processes, and explaining my own thought processes so that we draw closer to each other and understand each other more. That is energizing to me, not exhausting. So my first suggestion for avoiding burnout is to serve in the areas in which God has gifted you, where you are passionate. This applies to your work in the church and in life in general. Find a job or career that really excites you. By operating in your God-given giftings, you are living closely with Jesus and are able to rest in Him. As He said in Matthew 11:30,"His yoke is easy and His burden is light." Operate in your giftings. My second suggestion for avoiding burnout is to consider your motives for doing all you are doing. Remember, we don't live under the Mosaic Law or the Pharisaical regulations. We do not and cannot earn our salvation. Earning salvation cannot be done because it is a free gift from God as the Apostle Paul explained in Ephesians 2:8-10. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works. So be careful that you are not working so hard in the Church in order to be seen as or view yourself as worthy of God's salvation. You cannot earn it, and attempting to do so will only lead to burnout every time. Although Jesus was not addressing physical or emotional burdens when He told the people to come to Him for rest, He was very aware of our need for rest as evidenced in Mark 6:31. After He had given the disciples instructions for ministry and sent them out two by two to minister, they had returned to Jesus and told Him what they had done and taught. It was during this conversation that Jesus recognized they were tired and needed rest. He encouraged them to take a time apart from the many people who were following them and get some rest. Jesus cares that we get rest. Jesus invites us to go to Him in order to rest. To do that, we must stay plugged into our power source, which is God. According to 2 Corinthians 3:4-6, our sufficiency is of God. If we are not continuously plugged into that power source, we will run out of anything to pour into other people. We will experience burnout and will lack strength, motivation, and will be unable to speak with the spiritual authority God has given us. Fortunately, according to Philippians 2:13, it is God who gives us the energy and desire to do His will. We must be connected to Him in order for Him to work in us, giving us the motivation and strength to do His will, which includes ministering to other people. Here's a couple of actions to help you stay connected to God in order to be energized to continue giving of yourself to other people in ministry. First, being in God's word daily, and be a doer of that word, and avoid being a hearer only, which results in our own deception, according to James 1:22 and 25. When we are careful to be in Sunday school and church as often as possible, and when we have godly authorities and friends who speak into our lives and encourage us, we need to be like the Bereans that Paul commended in Acts 17:11 by processing the word we've heard and searching the scriptures daily to confirm the word. After we have confirmed the word, then we put it into action. If we do not, we only deceive ourselves. We begin thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought, and we eventually experience burnout. And the second thing to ensure we are living close to Jesus is to be in prayer daily, not just to take our needs to the Lord, but also to hear from Him. In John 5:30, Jesus Christ explained to the Jews that as a man, He did nothing according to His own will, but always sought God's divine will first. How did He do that? By being in prayer, seeking God's voice, and hearing that voice. Scripture tells us that we know God's voice. Psalm 95:7 identifies us as people of God's pasture and sheep in His hand. In John 10:27, Jesus explains that as His sheep, we hear and are listening to His voice in order to follow Him. If we are God's, we are to hear His voice and listen to it. We are His sheep and know His voice. Listening, as opposed to hearing, is doing what He says, obeying Him. We can know His voice, seek it, and obey it. Staying plugged into God, our power source, helps us avoid burnout. Remember I started this episode by explaining how pressured and overwhelmed I was because of all the deadlines I have to meet before embarking on a ministry trip? Well, I have to admit, preparing this episode has energized me. It is a ministry I love, am passionate about, and am thankful for. And it falls within one of my giftings, which is teaching. Thank you for letting me share it with you, which has helped me to avoid burnout in this very high-pressure, busy time. We've covered a lot of information in this episode with the hopes of helping you avoid burnout when managing your daily life, along with doing the things you feel God is calling you to do for Him. I encourage you to really pray about the giftings God has given you and focus your service in those areas. You will find they are the areas in which you are passionate, and in fact, they energize you instead of exhausting you. And while you are praying, ask God to illuminate for you your motives for doing the things you are doing. If there is any hint of doing things in order to earn or to be seen as worthy of your salvation, repent of that mindset and let God work in you and give you the proper energy and desire to work according to His will and purpose for you. All the while, seek God's voice, hear His Word, and do it. I'd love to go more deeply into how to pray and seek God's voice, but time doesn't allow that in this episode. If you struggle with knowing how to pray and seek His voice, please check out a previous episode titled,"Building Confidence in Hearing God's Voice." Also, check out a resource called"How to Have Confidence in Your Prayer Life." I'll drop a link to both of these in the show notes. That's it for today. I hope you found this episode helpful. If you did, please take a second to subscribe to our show so you'll be notified when future episodes come out. It would also be helpful if you would share it with your friends and loved ones, as well as rating or reviewing it so more people can find out about it. I'm constantly amazed at how God works through each of you to distribute His word through this podcast to so many people throughout the US and even the world. It has reached 29 countries and almost 200 cities because you share it, rate it, and review it. Thank you. I would really love to hear from you. Let me know how you are seeking God's voice and how He is helping you avoid burnout. I so appreciate those of you who have contacted me with your prayer request. Please know that I pray for you daily. If you need prayer, please reach out to me and let me support you in prayer. Until next time, let's be confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it