Within days of the greatest victory of his life, Elijah lay down under a desert bush and asked God to let him die.

Think about that. This was the man who prayed on Mount Carmel and watched fire fall from heaven. The whole nation cried, ‘The LORD, he is God’ (1 Kings 18:39). Then came one threat from Queen Jezebel—and the great prophet ran for his life.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: you can be doing God’s work and slowly destroying yourself at the same time.

If we serve in church—as pastors, leaders, teachers or volunteers—we may know this feeling. We still love Jesus and believe the gospel. But something inside feels empty and tired in a way that sleep doesn’t fix.

This post is part of our series What Do We Do When…?, which takes the hard moments of the Christian life to Scripture and asks how God would have us respond. Other posts in the series ask what we do when God seems distant and silent, when God closes a door we prayed would open, when we don’t know what step to take next, when we fall into the same sin again, when life doesn’t go according to plan, when doubt and anxiety won’t let go, when we can’t forgive someone, when we feel trapped in a meaningless existence, when we’re afraid of the future, when our family opposes our faith, when we have no feelings for God, when we’re afraid to evangelise, when our evangelism seems to bear no fruit and when we’re disappointed with God.

Here we ask: what do we do when we sense burnout in ministry? We shall sit with Elijah under his broom tree, and build our answer from one rich passage: 1 Peter 1:6–9.

You Aren’t Alone

Burnout among Christian leaders is common. Recent research from the United States gives us a clear picture:

• The problem is growing: In 2015, 10% of pastors said the pastor before them left because of burnout. By 2025, that number was 22%.
• Thinking of quitting: In 2025, about 1 in 4 pastors (24%) told Barna they’d seriously considered quitting in the past year.
• Suffering in silence: In one Barna study, 63% of pastors said they’d never looked for any kind of support.

The pressure is just as real elsewhere, where many pastors also work a second job and have even fewer helpers.

What Is Burnout?

Ordinary tiredness goes away after a good night’s sleep. Burnout does not. It is like an old phone battery: you charge it, but by midday it is empty again.

Notice the word sense in our title. Burnout rarely arrives in one day. It creeps in. So watch for the early signs.

Tired, Drifting or Burning Out? How to Tell

This table compares three conditions that can look alike. Read across each row to see how they differ.

Lessons from Elijah’s Broom Tree

A broom tree is a desert bush that gives very little shade—a good picture of where burnout leaves us. Let’s watch what God did for Elijah there (1 Kings 19).

Timeline: How God Restored Elijah

• The crash (vv. 3–4): Elijah ‘was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life.’ He left his servant behind and went alone into the desert. Under a broom tree he prayed, ‘It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life.’
• Sleep and food (vv. 5–7): God did not preach at him. An angel touched him and said, ‘Arise and eat.’ He slept again. Then more food: ‘Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.’
• A long walk (v. 8): Strengthened, Elijah walked forty days and nights to Horeb, the mountain of God (see our post on Mount Sinai).
• An honest question (v. 9): God asked, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ God invited him to pour out his pain.
• A quiet presence (vv. 11–12): God was not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire, but in ‘the sound of a low whisper.’
• The truth restored (vv. 10, 18): Elijah said, ‘I, even I only, am left.’ It was not true. God had kept seven thousand people who had not bowed to Baal.
• A friend and fresh work (vv. 15–16): God gave Elijah new tasks—and a companion, Elisha, to walk with him.

Bible teacher Dale Ralph Davis points out how “unspiritual” God’s first step looks: no lecture, just a meal and a nap. God made us as bodies and souls together.

Notice what God did not say: ‘How dare you be tired after all I did at Cherith and on Carmel!’ He was gentle with his worn-out servant. He still is.

Building the Case from One Text: 1 Peter 1:6–9

Elijah shows us how God restores. Peter shows us why we can hope. He wrote to ordinary Christians under pressure, and he knew failure well: he denied Jesus three times, yet Jesus restored him (John 21). Here is the passage:

Each phrase gives one step in our case.

1. ‘You Have Been Grieved’—Your Limits Are Real

Peter says believers are grieved—sad, heavy and hurting. The Bible is honest about our weakness: ‘For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust’ (Psalm 103:14). Even Jesus was ‘wearied as he was from his journey’ (John 4:6).

Having limits isn’t a sin. It’s part of being a creature—someone made by God, not God Himself. In Zeal Without Burnout, Christopher Ash reminds Christian workers that, unlike God, we need sleep, a weekly rest, friends and inner renewal. Ignoring these needs is not devotion. It is forgetting that we are dust.

2. ‘If Necessary’—God Is in Charge, Not You

These 2 small words carry great comfort. Trials come only ‘if necessary’—when God, in His wisdom, allows them. Our burnout isn’t outside His plan or control.

Here’s a hidden cause of much burnout: we try to carry what only God can carry. Moses cried, ‘I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me’ (Numbers 11:14). God shared the load with 70 elders, ‘so that you may not bear it yourself alone’ (Numbers 11:17).

Paul says, ‘neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth’ (1 Corinthians 3:7). You’re a servant, not the Saviour. And ‘He gives to His beloved sleep’ (Psalm 127:2). Going to bed is an act of trust. It says, ‘Lord, you run the world while I rest.’

3. ‘Various Trials’—Many Causes, Matching Grace

The Greek word Peter uses for ‘various’ (poikilos) means ‘many-coloured’. Burnout rarely has one cause. But here’s the beautiful part: Peter uses the same word later for ‘God’s varied grace’ (1 Peter 4:10). Whatever colour your trial is, God has grace in a matching colour.

Some causes come from outside us; some come from our own hearts. Most of us will find something in both columns.

Left column: outside pressures that aren’t our fault. Right column: patterns in our own hearts that make burnout worse.

Kevin DeYoung argues in Crazy Busy much of our busyness grows from pride and the wish to please people. Where the problem is in my heart, part of the answer is repentance (turning back to God)—and the gospel always welcomes repentant people. But not all burnout is our fault. Elijah was being hunted by a queen!

4. ‘Tested by Fire’—What Is Your Ministry Running On?

Gold is put into fire to burn away what is false. Thomas Schreiner explains in his commentary on 1 Peter that trials do not create faith; they prove that it is genuine (real).

Burnout is often a fire that shows us our fuel. Many of us are quietly running on something other than Christ: approval, success, or being needed. In Dangerous Calling, Paul David Tripp tells how ministry quietly became his identity until a painful conversation with his wife opened his eyes.

Jesus told his successful disciples, ‘do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven’ (Luke 10:20). Your worth is not your output. In Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, John Piper warns treating ministry as a mere career is killing pastors. As Timothy Keller often said, we’re ‘more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.’ Our Sundays cannot make God love us more. The cross already settled that. To God, our faith is ‘more precious than gold’—and we matter more than our work.

5. ‘You Love Him… and Rejoice’—Joy Is the Fuel

Here Peter shows us the cure beneath all the other cures: ‘Though you have not seen him, you love him… and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.’

Piper calls this Christian Hedonism. A hedonist is someone who chases pleasure. Piper means chasing our deepest pleasure in God himself. His famous summary is: ‘God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.’

God does not want servants grinding on out of bare duty. Leaders should serve ‘with joy and not with groaning’ (Hebrews 13:17). Jesus praised the church in Ephesus for not growing weary, yet warned, ‘you have abandoned the love you had at first’ (Revelation 2:4; see our post on the letter to Ephesus). Hard work without love is a warning sign.

Peter learnt this himself. After his denial, Jesus did not ask, ‘Will you work harder?’ He asked three times, ‘Do you love me?’ Only then came, ‘Feed my sheep’ (John 21:17). Love comes before labour. When our love for Jesus is fed, our service is fed too.

6. ‘For a Little While’—This Is Not the End

Burnout can feel permanent. Peter says trials last ‘for a little while’. And the end is certain: ‘obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.’

Your future does not depend on how much you produce this year. Praise and honour come ‘at the revelation of Jesus Christ’—when he returns. ‘And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory’ (1 Peter 5:4). Until then, keep ‘casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you’ (1 Peter 5:7).

But What About…? Common Objections

Some Christians feel guilty about resting. Here are three common worries, each with a short biblical answer.

Read each row from left to right: the worry, a short answer, and a Bible passage to check for yourself.

Charles Spurgeon, who knew dark seasons himself, told his students: ‘Rest time is not waste time. It is economy to gather fresh strength.’ (Economy here means wise saving.)

What Do We Do? Practical Steps

Here are steps drawn from Elijah’s broom tree and Peter’s letter.

Rhythms That Keep Us Going

• A weekly day of rest: God built rest into the week (Exodus 20:8–11; see our post on the fourth commandment). ‘There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God’ (Hebrews 4:9). Sabbath means a day set apart for rest and worship.
• Time alone with God: Jesus ‘would withdraw to desolate places and pray’ (Luke 5:16). He told his tired disciples, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while’ (Mark 6:31).

Not Just for Pastors

Worship leaders, youth workers, teachers, missionaries, pastors’ spouses and faithful volunteers can all burn out—often those who say ‘yes’ most. This post is for you too.

Back to the Broom Tree

Elijah thought his story was over. It was not. After the broom tree came Horeb, a whisper, a friend and fresh work. Centuries later, Elijah stood with Jesus on the mountain of transfiguration (Matthew 17:3).

If you sense burnout today, hear this. Pushing harder is not the answer. Running away is not the answer either. Stop. Receive the rest God gives. Hand back the burdens that were never yours. Feed your love for Jesus. Then return to serve ‘by the strength that God supplies’ (1 Peter 4:11).

Peter’s promise still stands: the trial is ‘for a little while’, but the joy is ‘inexpressible and filled with glory’.

Related Reads

• Bi-Vocational Pastors: Is Such a Category Biblical?
• The Billy Graham Rule: Should a Pastor Avoid Being Alone with a Woman?
• What Do We Do When God Seems Distant and Silent?
• What Do We Do When We Have No Feelings for God?
• What Do We Do When Our Evangelism Seems to Bear No Fruit?
• What Do We Do When We’re Disappointed with God?
• Is Taking Antidepressants a Failure of Faith?
• The Fourth Commandment: Why Did God Command a Day of Rest?
• Mount Carmel in the Bible: Elijah’s Fire and the Cross of Christ
• How Do We Cultivate Joy (Not Just Cope) in the Midst of Trial?
• Does Grief Cancel Christian Joy? Or Can the Two Coexist?
• Christian Joy: Is It a Personal Choice or a Feeling? Or Neither?
• The Christian Sabbath: Why Did Sunday Replace Saturday?
• Why Did God Rest After Day 6 of Creation?