Finding Rest When You’re Running on Empty

By Jessica Brodie

Have you ever felt so tired you didn’t have the energy for, well, regular everyday life? Perhaps, like me, you allowed yourself to get so maxed out with commitments and responsibilities that the fatigue crept up on you, a sneaky joy-stealer that hit you over the head one day with a gleeful “Ha! Now I’ve gotcha!”

I knew this was coming. Everyone warned me: ”You’re doing too much.”

“You’ve got to take a break.”

“Careful—you don’t want all this to turn into burnout.”

But in my pride, I kept pushing on. I kept pushing and pushing and pushing and …

Well, let’s just say the tiredness has seeped into my bones. It’s a tiredness no amount of sleep will cure.

So now what? What do you do when you’re so beat you feel beat-up? Do you press on? Do you just collapse in bed and say, “Okay, Lord, I surrender”?

The truth is there’s no perfect answer. But thankfully, Scripture has a lot to say about what to do when you’re so maxed out you can’t push through on your own anymore. And foremost is stopping your own striving and instead shifting your reliance to God’s strength.

Think about creation and how God naturally designed a tree’s annual life cycle. There’s a seasonal process of dormancy, budding, growth, and nutrient storage, and this happens year after year. In the spring, a tree grows rapidly. Buds are triggered open, releasing leaves and flowers. In the summer, leaves produce food for the tree. Buds for the following year are formed. In autumn, the tree stops its growth, preparing for cold weather. And then in the winter, the tree enters its resting phase, protecting its reserves of energy, so that when spring returns, the cycle can repeat.

God designed humans in some of these same ways. We must sleep, protect our reserves of energy, so that we can have the strength to be renewed for budding and growth. We must allow ourselves seasons of hard work and seasons of rest so everything operates as God intends.

When we max ourselves out, with no time for that intended natural dormancy, we mess with the natural order of things. Consider: God put “remember the Sabbath” in the Ten Commandments for a reason.

Thankfully, I’ve seen the signs—recognized the exhaustion within me—and am heeding what God’s trying to tell me. If this is you, too, and you need some concrete steps to get that soul and body renewal that is so necessary, I invite you to stop, reflect, and listen to what God is saying. Will you join me in observing what Scripture says?

1. Go to Jesus for rest. Sleep is important, yes. But sleep can’t fix everything. When we push too hard on our own accord, we must stop our striving for a time and turn to Jesus for the deep soul rest he provides. As Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (NIV).

2. Acknowledge your weakness. I might be a strong person, but my strength is nothing compared to the Lord’s. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, we’re told, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Take a step back. Let God’s power work through you.

3. Surrender. Know that on your own you can’t do much. But God is a refuge beyond compare. As Psalm 61:2-3 reminds us, “From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.”

4. Trust in God. God will provide—he always does! You don’t even need to know how he’ll do it. You only need to trust that he will. As Proverbs 3:5-6 proclaims, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

5. Wait on the Lord. He’ll take care of you. As Isaiah 40:30-31 promises us, “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

6. Pray. What does God want you to do right now? Go to him in genuine prayer and ask him. Does he want you to press on? Take a pause? Perhaps stop a certain task, or ask for help? As 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 urges, “Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Burnout is not a badge of honor. It’s a nudge from God to stop striving and start trusting. If you’re in that place today, take heart. You don’t have to figure it all out. You just have to take the next step: stop, reflect, and shift your reliance to the One who never grows weary.

He’s already waiting.

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