Day 5 Sign #3 You Need a Change: Extreme Busyness

John 4:8

In the story’s opening scene, Jesus was sitting at the well in Sychar by himself. We don’t know how many of his disciples were traveling with him, but I wonder why all the disciples who were with him had to go. Couldn’t any of them stay behind and just sit with Jesus?

We see this preponderance of activity with his followers throughout the Gospels. Peter wanted to build tabernacles on the Mount of Transfiguration instead of just reveling in the moment of such spectacular glory (Matt. 17:1–8). Martha was so busy working she missed a chance to learn at Jesus’s feet, a rare opportunity for women at this time (Luke 10:38–42). James and John were so caught up in strategizing their next promotion, they got their mother to advocate on their behalf and lost sight of what it truly means to lead—serving and sacrificing (Matt. 20:20–23).

Jesus’s ministry demands were often so great, with “so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat” (Mark 6:31 NLT). But instead of keeping that pace, Jesus led the apostles to get away and rest.

Leadership demands can be incredibly draining. I understand that. Requests, projects, and programs seem to be nonstop. And when we act like the superwomen we often think we need to be, we’ll try to juggle these demands without missing a beat. Busyness is such a part of leadership culture that leaders brag about it. When I worked in a professional services firm, there seemed to be a competition to see who was the busiest. A conversation with a colleague would go something like this:

“I worked until eight last night getting the proposal together.”

“Oh, that’s nothing; I left around five, got home and got the kids fed, and then stayed up until midnight finishing my presentation.”

Those leaders wanted to earn bragging rights for who could be the busiest and seemingly most productive. But doing the most does not equate to productivity, and busyness can lead to burnout.

If we find ourselves maintaining an unsustainable pace, staying busy but not necessarily purposeful, it’s time to reimagine our leadership. We don’t want to continue operating at an untenable pace lest we start leading on empty. When we’re on empty, we are too prone to miss God for our assignments, our relationships suffer, and we end up operating on fumes. That’s not healthy.