Thanksgiving Edition: Burnout Blinds Us to Blessings

“We must take refuge from the world’s demands. Only in God’s presence does the soul find its breath again.” — A.W. Tozer

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28

Burnout doesn’t happen all at once.
It’s a slow, silent unmaking — like someone keeps turning the lights down one notch at a time until you’re blinking in the dark, squinting to see what used to be crystal clear.

We don’t notice the goodness fading.
We just notice the [asap as possible] deadlines.

At some point, The System trains you to track KPIs more faithfully than kindness.
To measure productivity more precisely than peace.
To honor urgency more than people.
We become fluent in stress. Duolingo Diamond League, please and thank you.

And suddenly the things that used to feel like gifts — quiet mornings, warm hugs, your kid’s laugh from the next room, a husband with steady eyes, the soft conviction of the Holy Spirit — all of it starts to feel like interruptions.

Burnout turns blessings into burdens.

Life becomes scratchy and irritating, like a slipping sock in my stupid shoe.

The people who love you the most?
You start seeing them as “asks.”
The rest you need? You see it as weakness.
The simple joys? You don’t see them at all.

Burnout is a thief — and a very skilled one.
It doesn’t steal your gratitude overnight.
It just numbs it.

And when you can’t feel gratitude, you start believing you don’t have anything to be grateful for.

But here’s the good news (the REAL Gospel, not the corporate grind version):

Burnout has no authority where God breathes.
“He restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:3)
He restores what exhaustion erodes.
He reminds you of what you forgot.
He turns the lights back on.

This Thanksgiving, I’m learning to notice again — to see the holy in the ordinary,
to name the blessings I’ve treated like background noise,
to soften the places where I’ve been running on fumes.

Maybe you’re here too.

Maybe burnout blinded you for a time.
Maybe you forgot that blessings don’t stop just because you're deficit.
Maybe (likely, most assuredly) the grace was there the whole time —
and you just needed a moment to lift up and look from.
“Open my eyes, that I may see wonderful things…” — Psalm 119:18

So here’s your permission (and mine):
Slow down.
Step back.
Breathe.
Relax your shoulders (they're not supposed to be by your ears).
Open your eyes.

Let God remind you again of the good you’ve been too exhausted to see.

Blessings don’t disappear.
Sometimes we just forget how to look.

The True Cost of Burnout

Burnout isn’t just “being tired.”
It’s a full-scale operational failure of the mind, body, and soul —
a quiet hemorrhaging of energy, clarity, purpose, and presence.
The System shrugs it off like a personality flaw
(“just push through”, "it's good for you", "this is how you improve"),
but the data tells the real story: burnout is catastrophically expensive.

Expensive
to your health.
to your relationships.
to your faith.
to your future.

Here’s the part we don’t admit:
Burnout steals from us long before we ever know we’re being robbed.
That thief comes to... steal, kill, and destroy...

And when we finally stop long enough to look around,
we realize the bill has come [past] due.

And we're in the red.

Reconcile the Expense

Burnout is officially recognized as an occupational phenomenon —
a syndrome caused by “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” marked by exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced efficacy (World Health Organization, 2019).

79% of U.S. workers report chronic workplace stress, and 57% say it has already caused emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, or loss of interest in work (Hubstaff Workforce Stress Report, 2024).

Among high-demand fields like healthcare — often a preview of where corporate pressure is headed — burnout jumped from 30.4% in 2018 to 39.8% in 2022 (JAMA Network Open Study, 2023).

Burnout isn’t just emotional — it’s biological. Chronic workplace stress is linked to increased rates of cardiovascular disease, immune dysfunction, hormonal imbalance, and cognitive decline — including impaired memory and concentration (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2024).

82% of employees are now considered “at risk” of burnout, a number projected to keep rising as organizational pressure increases (Interview Guys Workplace Forecast, 2025).

For companies, the economic fallout is staggering: burnout and disengagement cost between $4,000 and $21,000 per employee per year, with a 1,000-person company losing roughly $5 million annually (CUNY School of Public Health, 2025).

And the personal fallout?
Absenteeism, chronic fatigue, broken sleep, strained relationships, and a heightened likelihood of depression and anxiety — all tied directly to burnout-driven stress (NCBI, 2024).

How to Live Again

A Checklist for the Recently Exhausted

⬜ 1. Return to Stillness

“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10
We cannot hear God or ourselves at full speed ahead.
Slow the pace, silence the noise, and stop outrunning our souls.
Stillness is not a luxury — it’s survival.

⬜ 2. Pursue Peace Over Pressure

“My peace I give you… not as the world gives.” — John 14:27
Reject urgency as identity.
Let the false deadlines, frantic energy, and chronic tension fall away.
Peace is not passive — it’s warfare against The System.

⬜ 3. Honor the Life You’re Living

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” — Psalm 90:12
Your days are not disposable.
Your attention is not infinite.

⬜ 4. Choose Rest Before Collapse

“Come to me, all you who are weary… and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28
Rest is not weakness.
Collapse is - stop glorifying depletion.

⬜ 5. Let God Restore What Burnout Hollowed Out

“He restores my soul.” — Psalm 23:3
Identity comes before productivity.
Worth comes before work.
Let Him rebuild what striving stripped away — peace, clarity, joy, presence.

⬜ 6. Be Intentional About Joy

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” — Nehemiah 8:10
Joy isn’t childish — it’s spiritual oxygen.
Bring back the things that make you feel alive.

⬜ 7. Ask for Help Without Shame

“Carry each other’s burdens…” — Galatians 6:2
You are not meant to hold everything alone.
Let someone in.
Let someone lift.

⬜ 8. Surrender the Striving

“In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” — Proverbs 3:6
Release the need to earn, prove, or perform your way into acceptance.
Lay down the hustle gospel.

Lessons Learned

Burnout didn’t just drain my energy.
It withdrew from the good right out of my life.

I walked through my front door drained, usually too tired to do anything but crawl into bed, too worn down to keep up with the rhythms that once made me feel settled and whole.

And underneath all that exhaustion was a quiet lie:
“You can do it a bit longer.”
I even said [aloud], "I can do this for 3 more years...."

What.

A little more pushing.
A little more performing.
A little more proving.
A little more undoing.
A little more unhinging.
A little more unraveling.

And I channeled my inner Ross - I'm fine, totally fine. (I can do this for 3 more years, no big deal).

I believed that if I slowed down, the operation might flounder.
That excellence required self-abandonment.
That influence was fragile, and reputation was something I thought I had to grip with white-knuckled devotion.

But the truth?
None of those fears were worth what burnout cost me: health, peace, rest, my connection to God, and being present with those I love.

Burnout emptied me of the very things I was trying so hard to protect.

But this Thanksgiving — everything is different.

I'm not rushing through my life.
I’m writing.
Reading.
Breathing.
Taking care of my family.
Taking care of myself.
I feel connected — to God, to my people, to the real me.

And in the quiet, God whispered what I couldn’t hear when I was hustling to death:

Your identity is not your job, title, or office.
You’re good at what you do because I qualified you.
You don’t have to strive to be loved, seen, or chosen.

If I could go back to the version of me who was drowning in performance and calling it faithfulness, I would take her face in my hands and say:

Rest.
Reset.
Focus on the eternal.
Choose to think on things that are good, true, lovely, and perfect.
God has you covered — and He has never failed you.

This is the blessing burnout tried to blind me to: I was held the whole time.

Internal Review

1. Where have I started calling exhaustion “normal,” and what is it costing me?
2. What blessings in my life have I stopped noticing because I’m moving too fast?
3. What lie am I believing that keeps me pushing, striving, or performing past my limits?
4. What fear rises when I think about slowing down — and is that fear even true?
5. What is God inviting me to reclaim right now that burnout has stolen from my attention, peace, or presence?

Action Item

This Thanksgiving week, carve out one quiet moment to breathe, to slow down, to let your soul catch up. Let gratitude do its healing work.

“He restores my soul.” — Psalm 23:3

You don’t need a full reset.
You don’t need a new routine.
Just one moment where you stop hustling long enough to notice the grace already around you.

Let this be the week you let God restore what burnout blurred — and receive your life again, one breath at a time. 🤍

“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” — Psalm 103:2