How an unexpected lightning storm changed everything Ryan Stevenson’s Dove Award-winning breakout hit “Eye of the Storm” was an overnight success, but his path to releasing that song was decades in the making. Ryan always knew he was called to be a musician, yet it took years of career changes, failed label contracts, and leaps of faith for him to achieve his dream. In his debut book Eye of … In his debut book Eye of the Storm, Ryan shares his zig-zagging journey from farm boy to singer and songwriter, and the life events along the way that have shaped his relationship with God. From his insecurity with self-image, to his grief and fear during his mother’s lengthy battle with cancer, to his high-stress days working as a paramedic, Ryan describes the many ways his faith was tested–and how each trial helped him become more reliant on Christ.
Eye of the Storm will inspire, encourage, and challenge you to trust more deeply in God, confident that any struggle you face in life will help mold you into the person He wants you to become.
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Singer and songwriter Ryan Stevenson shares the story behind his hit song “Eye of the Storm.” Years of struggling in his personal life and his musical life led to doubt and depression. Stevenson had to learn to fully rely on God, to allow Him to be in charge of his dreams and ambitions, but it wasn’t a quick realization, a “flash of inspiration” that fixed everything at once. It took time and some very dark moments, which Ryan lays bare for us in this book.
It’s never easy to read about the difficulties of someone else’s life, and Stevenson had a lot of them. From watching his mom die of cancer, to his wife having a miscarriage of twins, and to Stevenson’s own bad choices that nearly ruined his life. Through all of this, Stevenson had a love for Jesus, though I’m not clear on where his faith really stood. Still, there’s inspiration to be found in the pages of this book.
I appreciate the humble and vulnerable way that Stevenson wrote about his history. He found some success throughout his life, but suffered many setbacks. And he never holds back from taking the blame for his own mistakes. His wrong choices, mingled with things that were out of his control, caused some of the problems he had. Yet, along with the understanding that he should, and could, trust God in everything, he also came to learn that his mistakes did not have to define him. That, as long as he allowed it to happen, God could wipe them away and he could move on from who he used to be.
Though I have not had nearly the hardships in my life that he had, I gleaned plenty of insight from Stevenson’s story. In particular, it was a reminder when I really needed it to continue to do plug away at my writing, which feels stalled at the time of my writing this review. But rather than waiting for a big, obvious lit-up path (which I didn’t even consciously realize I was doing until now), I should be faithful to the work as I know to do it. God may or may not open doors for me, but waiting around for something to happen feels more like giving up than trusting God to use my abilities as he sees fit.
One thing I want to mention for anyone who may read this book–I think it’s important to be clear that not everyone hears that “still small voice” quite so clearly as Stevenson did so many times in his life. If we assume that God will lead us in this way, and we never feel an obvious nudging of the spirit, we may feel like God has abandoned us in the way Stevenson felt at times during his life. Even if we never experience a monologue from God, a whisper in the wind, we can still follow God faithfully, and he can use us in ways we’d never expect. I don’t want to discount Stevenson’s account of how God spoke to him, but it is not the only way, and for those of us who do not have those experiences, we should not feel less important to the kingdom. With that in mind, I do recommend this book for Christians who could use some inspiration in trusting God in the storms, or for those who enjoy Ryan Stevenson’s music.
Thank you to Netgalley and Harvest House Publishers for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Wonderful book!
This book shows how tuff life can be but how Jesus can see you through it and never leaves you. He has our best interest always.
Ryan Stevenson’s story must be much like many in the Christian music industry – struggles, etc. Interesting.
I read this book at the right time. This song was introduced to me after my sister died by a friend. It was great to read how this song came about for Ryan Stevenson. Mr. Steven wrote an honest autobiographical book and how the God who is the eye of the storm transformed his live. I will never look at him or any other artist the same way. People may only see his success but this book reminded me as a reader that everyone has a story. I appreciated realness about the struggles in his life and how his songs came to be. My favorite part was seeing how God was orchestrated his path.
* One things I was unsure of was the diagnosis of his mother. He said she had breast cancer and then bone cancer. Did she have 2 primary cancers? Or did the breast cancer spread to the bones making it still breast cancer not bone cancer?
I received this book from NetGalley and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.