To Live As Christ

A Personal Journey With God

About Me

Subscribe Via Email

Book Recommendations

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
© 2025 To Live As Christ · Design by Steck Insights Web Design Logo
Camdyn Sleeping After Emergency

Abiding in the stillness: Lessons in dependency

April 15, 2015 by brianmichaelsteck Leave a Comment

My mother-in-law burst into my office holding my year-and-a-half old daughter. Red in the face, lethargic and looking irritated, this precious little girl scratched at her stomach. “Something’s wrong!” exclaimed her grandmother. “She doesn’t look right and she just threw up.”

Moving deliberately, but calmly, I asked my one-on-one, who I was meeting with at the time, to excuse me. We walked back over to our home next door from the leadership school we staff. My wife was arriving home at the same time and explained that our daughter had tasted a few bites of pancake hours earlier, which contained egg — an ingredient our daughter is highly allergic to — so we made the decision to get our daughter to the emergency clinic.

I drove like a banshee to the nearest clinic, my worry and excitement growing as our little one vomited in the car, onto my wife who was holding our daughter. We raced into the clinic where they assessed that our little girl’s heartbeat and breathing were still in a safe place but that they couldn’t take our insurance, sending us across town to another clinic that would.

Her lethargy growing and our prayers and urgency swelling, we booked it for the next clinic where, thankfully, we were admitted almost immediately. Throwing up more as we were brought back into the triage center, we could tell our situation was distracting nurses from their work and concern across the room was growing.

As we disrobed our child, we could see her skin was bright red and she was very uncomfortable. Her vitals were taken and we waited an uncomfortable amount of time for the proper antihistamines and steroids to be administered to our little one. They told us that if the situation worsened, we’d need to call an ambulance and rush from the clinic to the emergency room.

Our nerves strained, we hung in the balance with our little child in our arms, doing our best to calm her and ourselves.

In moments like these, when it is almost impossible to “be still and know”, how do we find our “abiding current” — that deep wellspring of sustaining peace that resting in God provides?

We held our daughter tightly as the nurses delivered two shots at once. Screaming back at the trauma and pain of the situation, our daughter climbed into my arms and we spoke words of consolation to her. The skin irritation and pain soon diminished and, after monitoring her for an hour or so, we were released from the clinic.

In retrospect, I know that God is teaching me to draw from the peace that only He gives. I’m not saying that God made my little girl sick or any of that — we can leave matters of will to another day — what I am saying is that He is effectively using situations like these to whisper to me, “I am your peace”. In the midst of trial and turmoil around me, I have a decision to either join in the rush of the moment, or “be still and know that He is God” and I am man, and that is enough.

Can you give over control (especially in regards to the situations that you can’t do anything about anyway) and trust that He is enough for you?

What does it look like for you to trust him in the midst of life?

Filed Under: Surrender Tagged With: Abide, Dependency, Trust

Desperation and Trust: a Psalm for the weak

December 9, 2011 by brianmichaelsteck 2 Comments

I’m writing this from a weak place.

The Lord has been very good to us. All my needs are met. There is so much to be thankful for and I am undeserving of the blessings that are all around me.

Yet, I am struggling. Reaching and grasping for contentment and trust in the Lord.

This morning I woke to read an e-mail stating that the home we are attempting to purchase is slipping out of our grasps. The appraisal came back with an acceptable value, but “subject to repairs”. That line, “subject to repairs” is what is keeping the lending bank from giving us the loan; and it is that decision that is making this gorgeous, sunny December day so painful.

Moments after reading this, I opened my Bible and read these words:

You are my King and my God. You command victories for Israel. Only by your power can we push back our enemies; only in your name can we trample our foes. I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me. You are the one who gives us victory over our enemies… O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name.” Psalm 44:4-8

This Psalm is heart-wrenching and strangely familiar today. So with nowhere to turn and no answers, I confess my weakness and present this situation with this claimed truth: There will be no victory unless the Lord provides.

“Lord I trust You alone. You are my strength and a mighty mountain which I hide within. You protect me out of the goodness of your heart and not because I am worthy of it in any way. You desire me and I bask in your love. Father of heaven and earth, in utter and complete surrender, I come to Your throne-room asking for You to do what only You can do. Come. Change my heart. Move a mountain. It’s my desire that we would have this house, but Your will be done.”

Filed Under: Surrender Tagged With: Dependency, Faith, Hope, Surrender, Trust

Categories

  • Church Philosophy (8)
  • Discipleship (26)
  • Family (7)
  • Government (1)
  • Lordship (14)
  • Music (4)
  • Prayer (3)
  • Scripture Studies (7)
  • Soul Care (4)
  • Stewardship (4)
  • Suffering (2)
  • Surrender (18)
  • The Kingdom Centered Mind (8)
  • Uncategorized (2)
  • Worship (10)

Quotes

Loading Quotes...

Affiliate Disclaimer

This website contains affiliate links, however we only recommend books, music and videos that we have used, benefitted from and feel will improve the lives of our readers.