From Burntout Pastor to Professional Coach - John Opalewski (Ep 44.2)

Our public, external life does not necessarily reflect the state of our internal lives. Gordon MacDonald writes, "We are naively inclined to believe that the most publicly active person is the most privately spiritual. We assume that the larger the church, the greater its heavenly blessing. The more information about the Bible a person possesses, we think, the closer he or she must be to God." We can even make these false assumptions about our own lives. And these false assumptions may lead us to ignore the signs of burnout as leaders. We can be lulled into thinking the good things happening around us are signs we're on the right path in our journeys of discipleship. But it's in these moments, if we aren't paying attention, that our brokenness that we've ignored or covered up will eventually break through. And when that happens we find ourselves face to face with burnout. In this chapter, John pulls back the curtain on his own story of being a pastor and struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts. It's an honest look at what can happen when we don't take the time to evaluate our private, inner worlds. But there is hope if we find ourselves going down that path. And John's story is proof that God is always there to walk with us, and that he wants us not only to recover from burnout but to thrive in whatever position he calls us to fill in life.

Check out the full show notes and resources for this episode at dailygrowthdiscipleship.com.

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