Daily Journey: Day 212

Burnout Changes How You See Your Work

Scripture (ESV)

“And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Arise and eat.’” — 1 Kings 19:5

I’ve seen people who genuinely loved their work reach a point where they could barely stand doing it anymore. Sometimes nothing significant about the work had changed. They’d simply been carrying the responsibility for so long without recovering that their perspective started changing.

That’s one of the things that makes burnout different from ordinary exhaustion. You can lose interest in something that used to matter deeply to you. I’ve watched that happen in leadership, and it’s easy to mistake it for somebody losing their commitment.

Elijah’s experience in 1 Kings 19 is worth paying attention to. God doesn’t immediately challenge him about his attitude. He allows Elijah to rest and provides food before addressing what comes next. There’s wisdom in recognizing that people sometimes need to recover before they’re ready to deal with anything else.

Why this matters

Burnout can change how we understand responsibilities we once embraced. Leaders need to recognize that exhaustion can affect perspective before assuming somebody’s commitment has changed.

Reflection

Has exhaustion started affecting how you feel about responsibilities that used to matter to you?

Word of the Day

Burnout: Prolonged depletion that begins to affect our relationship with work and responsibility.

“And he lay down and slept…” — 1 Kings 19:5 (ESV)