Technology is making life more and more convenient, but it’s also making the pace of life faster and faster. I don’t believe it’s God’s plan for us to be running full speed all the time. We need rest. Even Jesus took time to rest. He withdrew to quiet places (Matthew 14:13) and communed with His Father.
We should do the same. But how? How do we slow down and enjoy God, our families, and our daily lives more.
Author Eryn Lynum is with me on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly to talk about developing daily, weekly, and monthly patterns of rest that help us grow beyond checklists, so we can live in rest.
Eryn takes rest seriously. She was diagnosed with Addison’s disease at the age of fourteen. Her adrenal glands don’t produce the right amount of cortisol, a hormone that manages our response to stress. If she’s exposed to extreme stress, her body could suffer severe damage. Rest is key to her staying healthy.
Eryn shares how God created rest as a natural rhythm of His creation. She uses examples from the created world to emphasize our need for rest. She also shares how to create space in your day by prioritizing what she calls “vital activities”; that is, structuring your day around activities that align with your values rather than filling empty slots in your calendar with unimportant busyness.
Eryn describes how to take these practices to heart:
- Live in God’s pattern by resting before we work.
- Rely on rest as God’s provision for us.
- Trust Him to meet our needs through our rest.
- View rest, not as a weakness, but as an opportunity to stop and delight in rest as a gift from God.
Eryn Lynum is a certified master naturalist, a Bible teacher, and an author.
Hear our full conversation on your local radio station, online, on Apple Podcasts, or take us with you on our free phone app.
Erin Lynum’s book The Nature of Rest: What the Bible and Creation Teach Us About Sabbath Living is available for a gift of any amount. For more information, click here or call 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).
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