It can be very hard to find rest in our world.  Between a Blackberry, kids, the home phone and social media, it can be hard to focus on anything, much less rest.

One study found that people who are interrupted by technology score 20 percent lower on a standard cognition test.  A second demonstrated that some students, even when on their best behavior, can’t concentrate on homework for more than two minutes without distracting themselves by using social media or writing an email.

We always wonder what we’re missing, what we should be doing, even when we’re supposed to be resting.  With technology, we don’t have to suppress that – we can always know, we can always be available.

People say it’s harder and harder to unplug.

Even as I wrote this, I found myself turning to all kinds of distractions – it’s always when I try to focus on writing that I decide some amazing new change needs to be made to the app or social media.  This makes it hard to work and rest – I’m constantly blending the two, and doing neither well as a result.

For this year’s vacation, I committed to turning my smartphone off, and only checking in once a day to make sure things are running smoothly with Redeem the Commute.  I’ll have to physically make sure my phone isn’t around, because I know I’ll be tempted otherwise.

But that isn’t a foolproof formula – I can always go get my smartphone if I get too curious.  Find rest can’t just be about strategies – because our problem is inside us.  There is something inside me that is still wanting to check email, check the news, etc.

We’ll explore what that is, and what to replace it with this week.

Question: How do you “unplug” and rest?  What strategies do you use?

Ryan Sim - May 19, 2014

Monday - A New Idea - Pioneer People

We introduced our Pioneer Story series with the story of Steve Jobs. This may be because I just watched the film “Jobs”, that chronicles his life from starting the Apple company in a garage, and growing it to what we know today. There’s a scene where the filmmakers go to great pains to show a transformation in Steve. It’s the early days of Apple in a garage. He is angry, having found out his girlfriend is pregnant, and he’s told her to leave his life. He says it’s her problem, not his. We then find him enraged before a mirror, tucking in his shirt, tidying his hair. His face hardens. The next few scenes are designed to show us he’s isolated, hardened and hyperfocused on his success as a businessman. His anger is driving him now. One of his former friends explains to another ,”Steve changed.” This was not exactly a change to be copied in our own lives, that’s not why I tell the story! Steve Jobs accomplished great things, but at great cost. And the turning point, according to this film, was that day his girlfriend said she was pregnant. We’re going to explore a life transformation this week, but one that was ultimately for the good of the entire world, and those who were transformed themselves. This was the transformation that happened in Jesus’ followers when they received the Holy Spirit. With the resurrection of Jesus, they were transformed from terrified failures into emissaries on a mission. With the day of Pentecost, that we learned about last week, the Holy Spirit arrived and transformed them into confident speakers riskily challenging the status quo We’re going to see how that kind of transformation can happen with us. We want to explore those times where people say someone changed, not becoming a hardened, ruthless person, but changing for the better. Jesus still changes lives today, and it’s still up for debate among many whether that’s good or bad. People changed by Jesus are still disowned by families, shunned in workplaces, even killed in some places in the world. Following Jesus entails a transformation not to be taken lightly. Question: Have you ever seen Jesus transform a life? What changed in that person? Was it for the better or worse, in your opinion? What did they do?

From Series: Pioneer Story | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

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