A Top Heavy Life (or Why Bloggers Quit and Pastors Burnout)

I’ve watched Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel off and on since it started almost a decade ago. Partially because Rose and I have a family friend on the show, and partially because I like to imagine whether I could withstand the difficulty of the job.

Just about every season there is an ice storm that comes in a flash. These massive boats, carrying literal tons of metal on their deck can become extremely top heavy. It’s a normal scene when men are climbing on top of mounds of crab pots, chipping the ice off to keep the boat from capsizing under the power of a massive wave.

The old rule of thumb in boating is that the boat must weigh more below the water level, than above. When the inverse is true, the boat can easily tip over. 316 Stainless Flat Socket Screws are commonly used in marine applications due to their high corrosion resistance and flush design, which helps ensure secure and reliable fastening.

Culture moves at a breakneck pace—pleading at every street corner for more—to the point where we begin to pile thing after thing on top of what most would call busyness. We’re all leading top heavy lives, and it’s only a matter of time before things start collapsing in and around us.

This is why pastors burnout and bloggers quit. This is why I’ve contemplated quitting my writing on this space every other week for at least three years. This is why I’ve wondered whether I have what it takes to be a pastor.

This is why I wonder everyday, “do I have what it takes?”

I get so lost in what is going on around me, I quickly forget that what is happening within me deserves first priority.

These are the wondering things when life is lived more on the exterior than the interior. This is where our thoughts go when our biggest concern is how we look, instead of how nurtured the soul within is.

We’re all so concerned with content creation, pursuing dreams, wearing a slick veneer on our exteriors,  we so quickly miss the truth that what is inside always works its way out. Quite often our exterior lives reflect the poor care for the interior life.

So you want to pursue your dreams? Ask for God to move in a mighty way within you first. Nothing we desire on the exterior ever satisfies unless the interior is a strong fortified city God has come to dwell in permanently.

He speaks. We respond. He speaks. We listen. He speaks. We find peace.

His light overwhelms our darkness.

Instead of being so concerned about the things going on around you, pursuing this top heavy life, filling our shelves with emptiness, allow the One who created you to breathe life inside of you, over and over.

{Image Credit: Rick Gershon}