The year was 1993, and I was 24 years old.
I sat in front of my computer at my office, frantically typing. A technical book translation project was due in a few days, and taking a break was not an option. My hands and feet started getting numb, my heart rate increased and an inexplicable panic settled in. That was the first of many panic attacks that became an unsettling reality for a couple of years.
At that point in my young life, sleep was a rare commodity. The Brazilian economy started collapsing after the government issued a radical plan to stabilize hyperinflation in 1991, and my business began to fail. To keep afloat, I had to work extremely long hours.
To make matters worse, a long-term relationship ended in betrayal.
Physical, emotional and mental exhaustion took my brain to its limits, and, in response, I started having crippling anxiety.
Anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disease — there’s no question the tentacles of these ominous conditions reach past our church walls to afflict even God’s most faithful servants.
In my case, stress and celiac disease are a deadly combination that messes up my brain chemistry. Even though the horrific weight of chronic anxiety does not afflict me as before, if I am not careful, I can easily get back into a familiar down-spiraling cycle.
It doesn’t help at all that God has given me a type A personality, making me someone who has a hard time turning down commitments and activities. Indeed, like most, I can be my own worst enemy.
I am typing this article at the tail end of a four-week international book tour, during which I visited 13 cities and states and spoke at 20 different events. To say I am tired is an understatement. But this kind of fatigue is not usual. I do not launch a new book in an international setting every year.
Regardless, the effects of fatigue start showing their ugly head. Many decades after suffering the long-term effects of stress, I still must be vigilant of my body’s signs in response to an overloaded calendar.
I believe it’s no coincidence that I scheduled this week’s column months ago to feature my conversation with Jess Connolly about her new book, “Tired of Being Tired: Receive God’s Realistic Rest for Your Soul-Deep Exhaustion.” Even though our discussion occurred at the beginning of this year, reviewing it this week was undoubtedly timely for me.
Connolly’s experience with stress is similar to mine. After years of loaded agendas and feeling pressured to perform better and accomplish more, the author found herself dealing with the effects of exhaustion. She, too, developed panic attacks and battled anxiety and an autoimmune disease.
Connolly decided there had to be more for women of faith like herself who struggle with the consequences of stress. She started digging into God’s word, researching God’s heart concerning rest and searching for a realistic approach to rest for women who find themselves caught in the performance mousetrap.
The result of Connolly’s research and personal quest for God’s peace is a book that can truly transform your life. For women who wish to break the cycle of exhaustion and find rest in Christ, this book is a richly insightful yet practical guide. It offers biblical guidance to help you break away from lies about performance and rest, identify sources of your fatigue and promote change. The book also includes scripture reflections with ideas to promote change and practical steps toward creating sustainable rest.
“We have grown to accept exhaustion as our reality, we’ve learned to wear our busyness as a badge of honor,” Connolly writes, “and our fatigue is the assumptive price we pay for being a woman. Our fatigue is actually a cultural problem that demands a spiritual and practical answer.”
I echo Connolly’s sentiments. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus calls, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” This promise should not just comfort, but challenge us, this century’s “busy bees,” to rethink our response to life’s ongoing demands.
May God help us learn to lay down the burden of self-reliance and other people’s expectations. Indeed, knowing when our bodies and minds demand a break and taking time to rest and recharge are the only ways to experience the rest our soul desperately needs.
Patricia Holbrook is a columnist, author, podcaster and international speaker. Visit her new website at patriciaholbrook.com. For speaking engagements and comments, email patricia@patriciaholbrook.com.
Listen to the interview with Jess, God-Sized Stories with Patricia Holbrook, on podcast platforms or YouTube. Find “Tired of Being Tired” anywhere books are sold
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