Burnout…Feelings of …..hollow…nothing left…no energy…no resources to expend…no passion to engage…no hope for today…no hope for tomorrow…no vision for God, self and other people. Burnout!!!
Recently I met with a very successful business owner. Steady language of a tired existence filled our discussion. I came away wondering if “burnout” was right around the corner.
Pastor and author Henri Nouwen offers this provocative view of “burnout”. I believe it to be true.
In Henri’s statement the word “convenient” convicts me. Does it convict you?
The Cambridge dictionary offers this definition for the word “convenient”: “suitable for your purposes and needs and causing the least difficulty”.
Left to our own devices, we avoid doing the good and not easy work of caring for our soul. Human nature is one that pursues comfort and convenience – a pursuing of ways “causing the least difficulty”. When your main day-to-day operating focus is the pursuit of comfort and convenience you will likely find yourself with a pervasive, deep sense of emptiness in your inner person. You experience “hollow” as you attempt to fill your God-shaped vacuum with things never meant for that precious place.
Here are some soul limiting statements that can “dim the light” in the small business leader – statements that keep you living as a “hollow” leader.
- I make sure to let my friends and family know how hard-working I am.
- If we can land that deal, then everything will be good.
- Business would be great if it wasn't for people.
- I am frustrated when my friends and family don't understand the price I am paying for them.
- I need to be always available 24/7.
- I’m the only one that can figure this out.
- This will never change. They will never change. I will never change.
- Sunday morning sentiments are nice but they are not my real world.
- God is out there, but I can’t experience Him.
- I know I need to stop but I can’t.
- It would be nice to stop and have a date with my spouse or one of my kids, or a leisurely coffee with a friend but…
- Others….
Jesus’ words were pointedly direct as He held the religious leaders of the day to account. His words apply to us as well. Choosing to remain a “whitewashed tomb”/a “hollow” leader is not a legitimate option for the committed Christ -following small business leader.
Jesus offers us a clear invitation to operate differently as we lead the businesses entrusted to us. He provides us with a definite pathway to being wholehearted leaders. Read his words in Matthew 11:28-30 NLT
“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Jesus’ words echo King David’s in Psalm 23:3 NIV, “He refreshes my soul”.
Are you willing to prayerfully ask Jesus….where am I at risk of being a burned out “hollow” leader?
A Deliberate Application:
- What’s your response as you read Jesus’ rebuke of the religious leaders?
- Is there a sense that, if not careful, you are a “whitewashed tomb” leader, “beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity”?
- What are you sensing God ask of you?
- Who will you share this with?
