This post is the fifth installment in a series of posts on the topic of understanding burnout from a spiritual perspective. Find the previous posts on our blog.

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—

let Israel now say—

if it had not been the LORD who was on our side

when people rose up against us,

then they would have swallowed us up alive,

when their anger was kindled against us;

then the flood would have swept us away,

the torrent would have gone over us;

then over us would have gone

the raging waters.

Blessed be the LORD,

who has not given us

as prey to their teeth!

We have escaped like a bird

from the snare of the fowlers;

the snare is broken,

and we have escaped!

Our help is in the name of the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 124:1-8 ESV

Over the past few months, we have been exploring the theme of burnout from a gospel-oriented worldview. A few months ago, we explored the idea of burnout being a snare of the enemy to entrap and cripple people.

For those of us who have experienced or are maybe experiencing burnout right now, we could say that the experience is like a tsunami that engulfs and drowns its victims. We can see it approaching, and if we are not prepared, it will ruin our lives.

Because burnout is more than prolonged exhaustion, as a snare, at its very core is the anger of the enemy toward God’s image bearers. BUT God is on our side! Because God is on our side, oh Christian, the torrent will not overwhelm your soul. The raging waters of burnout will not drown you.

Some wandered in desert wastes,

finding no way to a city to dwell in;

hungry and thirsty,

their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

He led them by a straight way

till they reached a city to dwell in.

Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of man!

For he satisfies the longing soul,

and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

Psalm 107:4-9 ESV

This passage describes burnout and how God saves people from the snare. In verse 4 we see that there are people wandering in the desert or wilderness without sustenance. They are at the end of their rope. They are desperate.

But why were they even in the desert to begin with? They wandered in, looking for a city to live, a place to live and flourish. Rather than flourishing, they found only hunger and emptiness. Rather than a city, they found a harsh and unforgiving desert. Friend, is this your story? Did you wander into the desert of burnout because you were looking for a livelihood, a means by which to flourish?

What happens to these people when they cried out to God for help? God met them in their desperation and hopeless situation. He then led them by straight paths out of the wilderness. God met them in the desert! God guided them in a straightforward way. There was no trickery. Nor was his way confusing or overly laborious. Friend. If you are in the desert, cry out to God. He will meet you in your exhaustion. He will save you in your hopelessness. You don’t need to rescue yourself or be in a “better place” to be rescued. He will take you as you are, where you are.

It says at the end of verse seven that God brought them to a city to dwell in. Did you catch that? He brought them to what they were looking for. He brought them to a place of flourishing. You see, when we follow the empty promises of this world and try to find places of flourishing and refuge on our own terms, we always wind up in the desert, in hopeless places. However, when we let God lead us, he brings us to what our hearts desire most- places of refuge and flourishing.

The psalmist reminds us,

“Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of man!

For he satisfies the longing soul,

and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” (Psalm 107:8-9 ESV)

The psalms remind us that God satisfies the deepest longing of our hearts. In this collection of radical prayers and praises, we find the path to freedom. That path is dependence on the Lord. Do you run to the Lord with your burdens? Do you cry out when you are in hopeless circumstances? Do you ask for help when you realize you have wandered into the deserts of life?

Israel was prone to wander, and because of their wonderings, they often found themselves in hopeless places. Repeatedly, the prophets spoke God’s word of promise to them. In Jeremiah 31:25, he says, “For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” (NIV) The Lexham English Bible translates the verse a little differently. It says, “For I will saturate the thirst of the weary, and every person who languished I will replenish.”

I just love that language of the LEB translation! “I will saturate the thirst of the weary.” This summer has been a particularly brutal summer, and I have often felt dehydrated. Because of this first-hand experience, this promise carries a deeper meaning. In the brutally dry seasons of life, I can still flourish because God will saturate my thirst, regardless of my circumstances.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:28-32 ESV

My dear friends, God is the remedy for your burnout. Seriously. Just him. Christ is the good shepherd for our souls. He brings us to good pastures and lest us enjoy rest in him with freedom (Psalm 23). Under his watchful care, we want for nothing. Following his lead, we are never abandoned. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, even in the snare of burnout, even dehydrated and lost in the wilderness of life, he leads us to life and flourishing.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV

Jesus empathizes with your extreme exhaustion. He has been there before. So look to him for renewal. Look to him for rest and restoration. Look to him to raise those weary bones to life.

Escaping the Snare of Burnout

Grace and Peace in the Shadow of the Almighty

Compassion Fatigue and Christ’s Love