This is a series of posts adapted from CrossPoint Ministries seminar at the Sojourn Network Intensive.
Many good men and women are emotionally, physically, and spiritually “fried.” Exhausted and facing chronic fatigue, they find themselves in the Southwest airlines commercial—wanting to get away. And fast!
Seven Signs of Burnout:
- Inner restlessness with an underlying sense of anxiety which leads to a defensive, angry spirit.
- Deep emotional weariness leading to obsessive or scattered thoughts.
- The waning of relational intimacy and a growing fantasy world (especially as it relates to our sexuality).
- Numbness of soul so that people become tedious to us and we haven’t the internal energy to give attention to their deepest needs.
- Feelings of boredom, melancholy, and depression in response to a growing hopelessness.
- We pretend … we live more into our image than our true sense of identity with God.
- Our spiritual practices are at best random and replaced by life’s demands so that our spiritual life has a serious lack of enthusiasm and love for Christ.
Why is it that we find ourselves burned out?
Why the exhaustion and fatigue which leaves our souls vulnerable?
Sometimes it is because of factors outside us which seem beyond our control (e.g. a severe illness in the family; overwhelming financial pressure because of the loss of a job).
But sometimes our souls are at risk because of what is happening within us. Simply put, we become desperately tired because our compulsion to do more leaves little time and energy to nurture our souls.
In Part 2 of the series on burnout, we will identify the problem which drives our compulsions.
