What to Do When You’re Burned Out or Spiritually Dry – Tools for Your Spiritual Toolbox

“I’m right here,” echoed Divine Stillness. “I’ve never left. I’m always with you.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. A hollow emptiness filled my chest. Then a Presence larger than life reached into my soul. My heart flooded with a white light radiating in and through my body.

I knew in that moment it was the Divine brushing my heart with a love so deep it surpassed human understanding.

I didn’t need words to describe it. It energized my dry, weary bones and my spirit.

Burnout is a form of exhaustion that comes from constantly feeling swamped.

Spiritual dryness occurs when we feel distant from God or are struggling to grow spiritually.

We encounter those seasons of burnout and spiritual dryness when life’s demands drain our energy, and our connection with the Creator feels strained.

It worsens when we jump out of bed and rush into the day; when we neglect morning quiet time; or cram our meditation with a barrage of spiritual readings as if we’re checking off tasks on a punch list.

Spiritual dryness can also occur when we allow ourselves to be consumed by free-floating anxiety and an overwhelming “gotta get it done” to-do list.

At times, we surrender when bombarded by life’s demands. We escape into social media or immerse ourselves in online games or other addictions to numb life’s tensions. 

These factors deaden our ability to hear the wise guidance of the Spirit. They cause us to wonder if God is missing in action since we don’t experience the Creator’s comforting presence.

As a result, we become increasingly disconnected from our souls and from the heart of the Divine. We miss God. We miss the connection to our Inner Selves.

At other times, we need to dig deeper into the roots of our despair, and discern how we’re being invited to push through our desert dryness and grow.

During times of desolation, it’s easy to spiral into a state of confusion, doubt, and despair. We may even give up on God, thinking the Creator doesn’t care about us.

The first step out of the darkness is to realize our feelings are normal. They are part of the spiritual journey because we move in and out of periods of desolation and consolation. It’s part of the ups and downs of life. 

It may sound strange, but being burned out or spiritually dry can become precious gifts because they signal a need to change. They provide an opportunity for spiritual growth and transformation.

By embracing spiritual practices, we can navigate through the tough times and transform challenges into springboards for inner growth.

We can let our struggles become our teachers as we seek God’s wisdom and ask ourselves what would be life-giving, what do we need to move from desolation into consolation.

The answer might be that we need to set boundaries; we need to take several tasks off our plates; we need to ask for help; or increase our alone times to unplug from the world so we can listen and hear God’s voice of love and guidance.

Here are three steps to counter our dry spells:

Embrace. Embrace self-compassion as you allow yourself to acknowledge you’re tired and need a break.

Ask. Ask God for the grace of wisdom to understand how you’re being invited to grow in practical ways as you seek to push through your feelings of despair.

Integrate. Integrate new spiritual practices into your daily life to rejuvenate your spirit.

As you seek inner wisdom, also consider these tools to add to your spiritual toolbox. Choose those that are most life-giving for you:

Ponder, Who is God to Me?

Self-reflection is often the first step in addressing our disconnection from the Creator.  It’s important to dig into our beliefs about God and examine any negative thought patterns that might be clouding our perception.

Sometimes, our preconceived notions or experiences can create barriers between us and the Divine, hindering our ability to feel God’s love.

Asking ourselves, “Who is God to me?” can reignite our awareness of God’s love and help us reclaim the truth that the Spirit is always willing to guide us like a Divine parent who wants what’s best for us.

InJoy Daily Meditation

Meditation is a powerful tool for fostering a sense of connection with the Divine. Being alone and unplugged from the world provides space for quiet contemplation to listen with our souls and open our hearts to receive God’s unconditional love.

Whether it’s sitting in quiet meditation, practicing mindfulness, or immersing ourselves in the beauty of nature, daily moments of quiet solitude can help bridge the gap between us and God.

Also consider going on a retreat with God at least once a year to get a full mind, body, and spirit recharge.

Seek Wise Counsel

Seeking support is important in navigating feelings of disconnection. Talking to a trusted spiritual mentor, counselor, or supportive community can offer new perspectives and guidance.

It’s comforting to know we’re not alone in our struggles and there are people who can walk alongside us on our journey towards rediscovering God’s love.

Seeking wise counsel is often the invitation the Creator places at our feet, nudging us to take the needed steps to grow from the inside out.

Make a Gratitude List

Gratitude acts as a powerful remedy to heal disconnection. By focusing on the people, places, and things we’re grateful for, we can shift our perspective and open our hearts to receive God’s love more fully. Even in darkness, there are always rays of light to be found if we’re willing to look for them.

When you’re filled with negativity, identity three people or things for which you are grateful. Notice how making a gratitude list shifts your perspective from the mud to the stars.

Grab a Spiritual Book

Seeking understanding through teachings and writings about God’s love from various spiritual teachers can provide valuable insights and inspiration.

Exploring different perspectives can help us gain clarity and understanding of ourselves and the Divine as we deepen our connection with God through our reading.

Picking up a good spiritual book and spending a few minutes reading can provide a new lens through which we see ourselves and the Divine.

Ask the Creator to lead you to a book that will jumpstart your inner growth. Then spend some time each day letting the words on the page speak to your heart and your mind.

Escape the Tsunami
Schedule a Playdate with God

As we grow older, our lives become overly serious as we fight to tackle the “responsibility monster.”  As a result, we forget how to play. We forget how to have fun like we used to as children.

To overcome burnout and spiritual dryness, pull out your calendar and schedule a play date with God as I wrote about in Chapter 3 of my Finding Flow book.

Play helps us rediscover our inner child and the childlike spirit of inner freedom so we can fall in love with ourselves and life again. Check out Chapter 3 in my Finding Flow book: Escape the Tsunami—Schedule a Playdate with God.

Here’s the link to the book on Amazon: Finding Flow—Spiritual Practices to Reclaim Inner Peace, Balance, and Wholeness.

Remember You’re Normal

Feeling distant from God and experiencing burnout are natural parts of the spiritual journey. It’s okay to grapple with doubt, confusion, and uncertainty.

What matters is our willingness to remain open, resilient, and receptive to seeking new paths and finding support as we navigate through challenging times. By doing so, we can emerge from the darkness with a revitalized sense of connection and a deeper appreciation for the infinite love that embraces and guides us.

Harnessing spiritual tools to recharge your life’s drained battery allows you to take a licking but keep on ticking. These tools provide an inner sanctuary to rediscover your Divine Essence and reconnect with God. Embrace them as guiding lights to push through the darkness of desolation into the brilliance of consolation’s Radiant Light.

In the midst of our busyness, we often don’t recognize those feelings of burnout or spiritual dryness.  Even if we do, we don’t give ourselves permission to focus on solutions. We just keep pushing harder and faster.

If you need permission to consider your burn-out and spiritual dryness as a God-nudge to take a break and discover how you’re being invited to grow, consider this wisdom from Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk:

“To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”

The fear of failure and the need to get things done, create this downward spiral of the spirit.

To break this “circle of violence” we must surrender not to the demands of life, but to the demands of self.

Stepping back and reflecting, while at rest, will allow us to see things anew, which will increase our “fruitfulness at work” and at home.

PS—-If you need a jumpstart for other spiritual tools to move through those times of burn out and dryness, check out the Free Spiritual Resources under that tab on my website at brianplachta.com.

There’s a screen shot below of the free resources available for you.

—brian j plachta
brianplachta.com