What to Remember When You’re Close to Burnout

Posted on by

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:30)

A yoke is a bar that joins two animals together to haul a load. It makes their work easier because their burden is now shared. When we answer Jesus’s invitation to come to him and accept his gift of rest, he offers us a yoke and a lesson. But it’s not a lesson like those we’re taught in school. Rather, we learn this lesson as we are yoked to walk alongside him and study his heart. It’s relational.

The yoke Jesus gives us is different from the yokes we take on ourselves or have put on us by others. It is “easy.” Jesus is not a demanding taskmaster. He isn’t the boss who urges us to complete an unreachable deadline or the coach who pushes us beyond the breaking point. He’s not the impossible-to-please parent or professor. With gentleness and humility, he offers to teach us a different way of living and working. He does not demand that we lay down our burdens, but he invites us to do so. As we walk alongside him, bearing his yoke of kindness and gentleness, we find rest for our souls.

When we are close to burnout, we often develop a skewed view of God. We feel beholden to many tasks and people, and in a combination of pride and exhaustion, we may not go to Jesus

to find rest because we mistakenly believe he will only add to our burdens. We push through physical and emotional depletion, perpetually running on empty. In that state, it’s easy for us to blame those around us for burdens we were never meant to carry alone. Our problem is that we have taken on much more than the easy yoke found in relationship with a gentle and lowly Jesus. To see Jesus more clearly, we must give up carrying everything were thought only we could bear. His heart is gentle toward us always, though we may be blind to this fact for a long time.

God the Son knows our limitations and burdens, and as we walk closely with him, we learn how and when to say yes and no with courage and clarity. As we experience what it feels like for him to bear our burdens, we learn how to bear others’ burdens in partnership with him. As we’re guided by his wisdom, we’re also better able to discern which burdens are not ours to carry and

which responsibilities are not part of the light burden he’s given us. When we are yoked to Jesus, our souls know rest because they know him.

  • Reflect: How is Jesus’s offered yoke different from the burdens you tend to carry?
  • Act: What do you need to say no to in your life so that you can say yes to Jesus’s invitation to learn from him and find rest for your soul? If you are not sure what to turn down, ask a wise believer for help.

*Heather Nelson writes today’s article, which is an excerpt from her new 31-day devotional entitled REST: Creating Space for Soul Refreshment.

Print this entry