Article by Rev. Bartel Elshout, pastor of the Heritage Reformed Congregation of Hull, Iowa. Original source: Jan/Feb 2018 edition of The Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth.

For far too many pastors in North America the condition of pastoral burnout has been, or is, a painful reality. At times, this condition can have far-reaching consequences, as it will prompt some pastors to resign permanently from pastoral ministry, whereas others will have been so severely impacted by this condition that it has permanently disabled them.

All pastors, given the nature of their responsibilities, are potentially vulnerable to succumbing to this debilitating condition. Therefore the question must be asked, “what steps can be taken to prevent pastors from burning out as they deal with their multifaceted and demanding responsibilities”?

Before considering steps that can be taken to limit and/or prevent pastoral or ministerial burnout, we first need to consider what pastoral burnout is and what circumstances precipitate this condition. Also regarding this condition, we must first diagnose the disease before we can prescribe the remedy.

Burnout is essentially what the word suggests: It means that someone’s “candle” has completely burnt out. Practically this means that a burnt-out person’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual reserves have been completely depleted. Consequently, a burnt-out person can no longer function normally.

The following symptoms will often manifest themselves—symptoms that will vary according to the severity of one’s burnout:

• Fatigue
• Lack of energy
• Insomnia
• Inability to concentrate
• Inability to engage in mental tasks
• Depression and/or anxiety
• Spiritual despondency

I know from personal experience what a debilitating effect these symptoms can have on a person. What a frightening experience it is when it seems that your mind no longer functions and when you can no longer engage in what would otherwise be viewed as normal tasks and responsibilities! That’s what happens when one’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual batteries have been completely drained.

As is true for physical batteries, this usually does not happen overnight. The condition of burnout is usually long in coming. A person who burns out frequently has been burning the candle on both ends for a prolonged period of time, and has thus chronically neglected to observe the normal rest cycle that is so essential for the healthy and normal functioning of our minds and bodies.

When the divinely ordained rest cycle is inadequately observed for an extended period, the natural reserves of our minds and bodies will gradually (and initially imperceptibly) be depleted. Though someone may, for quite some time, get away with violating and/or compromising the rest cycle, there will come a day of reckoning when one’s reserves will have been fully depleted. The nature and demands of the ministry are such, however, that ministers are often vulnerable to overextending themselves.

The full scope of ministerial responsibilities is difficult to define, for the nature of the work is such that there will always be another responsibility and/or task on the horizon. Ministers therefore often have the sense that they are never really truly finished with their work.

Since the ministry is in a sense a twenty-four-seven calling, there can at times be a relentless inner pressure (sometime reinforced externally by unreasonable expectations) to work day and night. When this goes on for an extended period of time (sometimes years), the specter of burnout begins to loom on the horizon.

Since such burnout is usually long in coming, it will often require a considerable period of time to recover fully. It’s like a rechargeable battery—when it is fully drained, it cannot recover by merely being recharged for a few hours. It needs to be recharged overnight to regain its full functionality.

Let me illustrate this from the Scriptures. The last chapter of 2 Chronicles records for us why God chastised Judah with a seventy-year captivity in Babylon. Its purpose would be “to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years” (2 Chron. 36:21; see also Jer. 29:10).

The author clearly implies that Judah had robbed the land of its divinely prescribed sabbaths. Every seventh year, the land was to have a year of rest, and God had promised the farmers in Israel that they would prosper if they would obey His precept.

The implication of this text is that they had skipped the sabbath year seventy times—and thus over a period of four-hundred ninety years! Having violated God’s ordained rest cycle for this lengthy period of time, the Lord now compelled Israel to let the land rest for seventy consecutive years. Rather than the land resting at regular and prescribed seven-year intervals, this rest now had to be made up all at once.

Hopefully, the application of this story will be obvious. If we consistently and chronically violate God’s ordained rest cycle, we will ultimately burn out, and then we, too, will have to make up that rest all at once.

What must ministers do to prevent this from happening to them? We must obey God’s revealed will and honor His ordained rest cycle for our bodies! That means two things: (1) We must honor the day/night cycle and get a proper amount of sleep each night; and (2) we need to understand also that ministers must rest one day after six days of labor.

The weekly day of rest (preferably Monday) is especially essential for the long-term health of a minister. Both my father and I had to learn this the hard way, as both of our ministries were interrupted by burnout.

I remember my father telling me how the Lord had convicted him that he, too, had transgressed the fourth commandment by not resting one day out of seven. Upon recovering from our burnout, we both resolved that the remainder of our ministries we would rest one day out of seven. My father did so faithfully until the Lord translated him into glory, and I try to follow in his footsteps by also making Monday my weekly day of rest.

That day of rest has proven to be a real blessing for me personally, and I would lovingly urge my brothers in the ministry to do likewise. After all, there is no exemption for pastors in the fourth commandment! And thus the best way to limit and/or prevent ministerial burnout is consistent and faithful obedience of God’s ordained rest cycle. Pastors will only prosper physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually when they honor God’s revealed will!