Cultivating an Attitude of Rest: A review of Be Still by Lucy Rycroft
Jo Acharya | September 23, 2025
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea…
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
If you’ve been following my writing for a while, you’ll know I talk often about rest. It’s the first topic in my book Refresh: A Wellness Devotional for the Whole Christian Life, and a theme I keep coming back to. I’m a kind of frustrated Martha: I have a constantly whirring mind and a desire to do All The Things, but living with chronic illness means my limited energy just won’t allow it. Learning to accept rest, not as a hindrance but a gift, is a big part of my ongoing journey with God.
So when I heard about Lucy Rycroft’s new book, Be Still: 30 Devotions for Those Who Feel Anything But, I was immediately drawn in, but I wondered if it was really for me. Lucy is a self-described busy person, struggling to find time for rest in her packed schedule. I have all the time I need to rest, but somehow still find it challenging. Would Be Still have anything new to teach me?
Yes, as it turns out. Because as Lucy explores God’s command to ‘be still’ from multiple angles, she digs into the busy lifestyle and exposes a deeper issue: the busy mindset. There are situational barriers to rest in most people’s lives: real demands on their time and energy that make it difficult to carve out moments of rest. But for many of us, underneath all that is something spiritual: an attitude that thinks we need to prove ourselves or make ourselves secure. An attitude that says we can’t trust God for what we need, that if we want something done we must do it ourselves. Lucy’s solution is not to remove all busyness from our lives, a task she knows is impossible, but to adjust our mindset and approach our lives from a position of rest, knowing that “your salvation does not depend on whether you complete your to-do list.”
Thoughtful and practical
Each devotion in Be Still begins with a short introduction, followed by a passage of Scripture and a reflection on what the passage is teaching us. Lucy gives a couple of suggestions for prayer on the subjects raised, then a ‘stillness idea’ – a practical step to start absorbing this wisdom into your mindset or lifestyle. Finally, there’s an opportunity to reflect on your experience of trying out the stillness idea.
The stillness ideas are brilliantly practical. Some are centred in prayer, such as listing your commitments and asking God to speak to you about each one, while others incorporate an easy practice into your lifestyle – for example setting a clear end to your working day and then spending a few minutes in stillness before moving on. All are simple and doable, and Lucy recommends working through the book slowly, so you have time to properly try each idea and form new habits as you go along.
I’ve found this thoughtful and practical book so helpful in meditating on my own challenges with rest. Focusing on this theme through 30 devotions gives Lucy a chance to drill down into specifics – money worries, seasons of change, trusting God, enjoyable busyness, overwhelming busyness, the surrounding culture – and how each of these factors might play into our attitude and practice of rest. Like me, you’ll probably find some devotions are more applicable than others as you learn which of these areas are particular challenges for you, but all contain nuggets of truth to take into your daily life. Overall, spending a significant amount of time thinking and praying over this theme from many angles, then acting out the stillness ideas, really helps embed the wisdom and make lasting changes.
If you’re living a busy life, with pressures and expectations on you from work, family, ministry and other commitments, you will be blessed by this book. If you’re like me, and the demands you feel come from your own busy mindset, you’ll be blessed too. Whatever your stage of life, I think you’ll gain moments of clarifying insight that will adjust your viewpoint and lead you a few steps further along the path of trust in God and rest in the stillness he brings.
Be Still is available from Lucy’s website, Amazon and all good bookshops.
Lucy Rycroft is the author of several other books, including the Mighty Girl, Mighty God series of children’s Bible story books.
She is the founder of the Christian parenting and adoption blog The Hope-Filled Family, and you can also follow her on Instagram and Facebook.
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