Burnout Is Not My Portion: Why Moms Need to Rest Without Guilt
Since becoming a mom, God has truly taught me how to show up and endure even when I don’t feel like it.
I’ve learned how to keep going when I’m tired, how to meet needs when mine go unmet, and even how to lean on God for strength when it feels like I’m carrying it all on my own.
But recently, I’ve hit a wall.
I have felt so exhausted. My body aches, my mental capacity is limited, my emotions feel so heavy and each day I question if I can actually keep going.
And that’s when God began to show me that it was time to slow down, set boundaries, and stop resisting rest.
The Biblical Mandate for Rest
On my journey, especially as a mother, I’ve noticed that I tend to wear my endurance like it’s a badge of honor. I equate busyness with purpose and sacrifice with sanctification.
But the truth is, rest isn’t a luxury and it’s not selfish.
Rest is biblical and it’s commanded by God. In Genesis, we see God rest on the 7th day. We then see God command for His people to do the same. Lastly, in the New Testament, we see Jesus (the One who is without sin and fully God and fully man) rest after performing miracles and delivering people.
From the very beginning, rest was woven into the rhythm of creation not as an afterthought but as a sacred priority.
This made me realize I was treating rest as something I had to earn… but why?
The Enemy’s Agenda Behind Burnout
I believe the answer to that question is: the enemy wants moms burnt out.
When we’re depleted, we’re a lot more vulnerable to doubt, fear, comparison, shame and more. A burned-out mother is more likely to react out of stress instead of respond in love, numb instead of follow through with healing, and hustle instead of abide in the Lord. She’s also more susceptible to repeating old survival patterns instead of walking in wisdom.
When we’re exhausted, we’re not just tired. We’re also spiritually distracted.
So burnout isn’t just a physical condition but a spiritual strategy the enemy uses to keep mothers ineffective, overwhelmed, and too weary to wage war in the spirit.
What Neuroscience Says About Rest
If you don’t know this yet, I love neuroscience. So when God begins to bring revelation about a topic I’m navigating in my life, I love studying the neuroscience behind it.
And since God created science, it’s no surprise that even neuroscience backs up this truth.
When our body is stuck in survival mode (fight, flight, or freeze), our brain literally can’t access the higher functions responsible for empathy, creativity, wisdom, or long-term thinking. We’re more reactive, more anxious, and more likely to spiral.
But when we rest, our nervous system recalibrates. We shift from panic to peace, reacting to responding, and surviving to mothering with intention.
Rest is how our body and brain return to “safe.” And from that place, we can lead, love, and pour out again.
That’s why the enemy tries to convince us that rest is earned, that it’s a sign of “laziness”, or that we’re not enough unless we’re constantly doing.
I believed the lie. If you have, too, I pray after this you come out of agreement with it.
Choosing Rest as Warfare
After receiving this revelation from God, I gave myself permission to rest.
I didn’t have a babysitter and there were a few things that needed to get done around the house. But I chose rest.
We stayed in PJs all day, the kids watched TV and I mothered from the couch with a blanket and a prayer.
And you now what? This was not lazy, this was wisdom.
I knew if I kept going, kept running on empty, I wouldn’t just be burnt out but I would risk breaking the very things I’ve been called to steward.
To The Mom Reading This:
You do not have to earn rest, Jesus already paid for it and has freely given it to you. Receive it.
Choosing rest doesn’t make you lazy, it makes you wise.
If you’ve been waiting for permission to stop striving, I’m here to tell you to obey God and rest.
You’re not failing, you’re being faithful. 💛
Here’s a few phone wallpapers you can use as a reminder. 🫂
