Rhythms Over Routines

On wilderness seasons, rest, and rediscovering childlike faith.

Tomorrow morning, a conversation recorded many months ago finally finds its way into the world.

Back in March, I sat down with Em Tyler for her Grow + Go podcast. We talked about faith, growth, rest, and what it means to follow God in a world that often measures our worth by our productivity.

It seems I am always confessing things here, because the funny thing is, I can’t remember exactly what I said.

Not because the conversation wasn’t important, but because life has happened since then.

There have been new opportunities, unexpected conversations, books sold, plans changed, prayers prayed, disappointments carried, and moments of deep gratitude. The landscape has shifted. I am not quite the same person who sat in front of that camera in March.

And yet the title still feels right.

For a long time, I thought spiritual growth was about finding the right routine. The right plan. The right habit. The right system. The right time to read my Bible.

But the longer I walk with God, the more I find myself drawn not only to routines, but to rhythms.

Routines can help us. But rhythms can hold us.

Looking back, wilderness, rest, and childlike faith feel less like separate topics and more like chapters of the same story.

There have been seasons over the last few years where I have not known exactly where the path was leading. Seasons where certainty felt scarce and questions felt abundant. I would not have chosen all of those places. Some of them have been tiring, disorientating, and deeply uncomfortable. But looking back, I can see that God was not absent in them. Often, He was doing some of His deepest work there.

Rest has become more than a practice for me. It has become a way of resisting the lie that my value is found in my productivity. A way of remembering who I am and whose I am. A way of learning that I do not have to hold everything together in order to be held by God.

And perhaps the greatest surprise has been discovering that maturity in faith is not always about becoming more certain. Sometimes it is about becoming more curious. More attentive. More willing to wonder. More willing to trust.

The invitation of Jesus has rarely sounded like “work harder” in my life. More often it has sounded like “come with me”.

Walk. Rest. Notice. Listen. Respond.

That has become a thread running through The Radical Recall to Rest, my book on rest and faith, through A Curious Follower, the wider reflective project I’m building, and through much of my own journey over the last few years.

So tomorrow morning, if you’d like to listen in, the episode will be available from 6am.

Whether you are in a wilderness season, longing for rest, trying to rediscover a more childlike faith, or simply wondering what rhythms are shaping your life with God, perhaps this conversation will offer you a little companionship.

You can find the episode here, ready for when it goes live at 6am tomorrow:

Listen/read on Substack:

Watch on YouTube:

Until then, perhaps the question is simple:

What rhythms are shaping you right now?

Josh | A Curious Follower

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If this conversation helps you notice the rhythms shaping your own life with God, I would love you to keep walking with A Curious Follower. You can do that by listening to the episode, sharing this post with someone who might find it useful, subscribing here, picking up a copy of The Radical Recall to Rest, or getting in touch if you are curious about a reflective space for your team or community.

Thank you for being here. Your presence, reading, listening and sharing all help this work continue.

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Josh Barker writes at acuriousfollower.com. His book The Radical Recall to Rest is available now.