New Fair Trade Services singer/songwriter Austin French is an artist to watch. I love the confessional and biblical lyrics on his recent album, Wide Open. If you've been waiting for a fresh filling of Christ-focused catchy songs about relying completely on God's grace, then this is the album to get. It features standouts, "Born Again," "Freedom Hymn," and "Why God."

These songs express the deep love Jesus has for us. And how His mercy and grace is something we don't deserve, which causes our hearts to overflow with gratefulness. His songs are great expressions of our thankfulness back to God. I had the opportunity to interview Austin in-person at Winter Jam in Reading, Pennsylvania about his autobiographical song, "Why God."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

"Why God" is one of the hardest, most real songs I've ever written. Indeed, it was a hard song to write. It came out of a season in my life where I was desperate for clarity of who God was in my own life. Letting Him be who He promises to be in the season I needed Him the most. 

I got a phone call at about four in the morning. My dad had been in a car accident and the doctors gave him about a five percent chance to live. It was a crazy turn of events. I had never had a huge tragedy happen in my life before, to me or someone in my family. The doctors telling me the statistics of whether my dad would live or not caused me to say, 'Why God?' for the first time in my life. I started asking really tough questions. Why, God, do people have to die? Why does tragedy still have a place in the life of a Christian? Why another school shooting? God, why? Are you even here? Are you with us? These are the real questions that inspired this song.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

2 Corinthians 6:18 (VOICE): "'And I will be for you as a Father, and you will be for Me as sons and daughters,' Says the Lord Almighty!"

Matthew 11:28 (NIV): "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NIV): "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."

Psalm 40:17 (VOICE): "Meanwhile, I am empty and need so much, but I know the Lord is thinking of me. You are my help; only You can save me, my True God. Please hurry."

Lamentations 3:22-23 (VOICE): "How enduring is God's loyal love; the Eternal has inexhaustible compassion. Here they are, every morning, new! Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day."
 
John 14:6 (NIV): Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
 
1 John 3:18 (VOICE): My little children, don't just talk about love as an idea or a theory. Make it your true way of life, and live in the pattern of gracious love.

Ephesians 2:1 (NKJV): "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins."
 
Ephesians 3:14-19 (NJKV): "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

What is the takeaway message?

I felt instant shame in asking, 'Why God?' I had questions about the season I was going through. And, I was not able to be a strong person in that time. I felt like a bad Christian. A little bit later in that season and during my dad's recovery story, eventually God did a miracle. My dad went into a coma for six months. And, then he woke up and God healed him. But, the questions were still there for me, as I wondered why we had to walk through that.

I myself am now a dad. And, my boys are in the 'why, daddy' stage. They ask about the sun and the moon and what they find outside. They don't feel like bad kids when they ask me questions. They feel like kids who need their dad. I realized that I was looking at God like I was supposed to perform for Him and be a good Christian. Really, I'm supposed to be a kid who needs his dad. God corrects me and sets me on the right path.

I believe our God is a good father, and we are His kids. He's not scared of our questions. In those moments, there's tons of things in this life that we don't understand. But, maybe we're not supposed to. Maybe, we're supposed to need God; need a Father who knows all things, and holds all things in His hands. And that's okay.

Lyrics

Why God do people have to die
A daughter or a son
Sudden and so young
Long before their time?
 
Why God do people fall apart
A promise a ring
Becomes a broken thing
A road that got to hard?
 
I don't understand,
But I understand
Why God I need You
It's Why God I run to Your arms
Over, and over again
It's Why God I cling to
Your love and hold on for dear life
And I find You are right by my side
 
Why God do we feel so alone?
Every single day
Fighting through the pain
Hoping there is hope
 
I don't understand
But I understand
Why God I need You
It's Why God I run to Your arms
Over, and over again
It's Why God I cling to
Your love and hold on for dear life
And I find You are right by my side
 
Give me a faith stronger than I have
I need to know when it hurts this bad
That you hold my heart when in breaks
And I'm not alone in this pain
 
It's Why God I need You
It's Why God I run to Your arms
Over, and over again
It's Why God I cling to
Your love and hold on for dear life
And I find You are right by my side
Always right by my side
Even here in the Why God

Closing Thoughts

"Why God" has become my personal anthem. And, I sing along at the top of my lungs the sincere and emotive lyrics of submission. I love how prayers and songs of praise are a communal experience that we can all share. I think the Lord wants us to long for heaven and a relationship with God. 

When we've been indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we have a personal relationship with the comforter. And, a peace that surpasses understanding to know that this fallen world isn't all that we are living for. As His sons and daughters, we need to take God's love with us everywhere we go, and know that His love goes with us. I have spent time reflecting on and singing this song to God, and it always gives me comfort.
 
The beauty of a song like "Why God" is to allow these words of comfort to cover us and to celebrate God's joyfulness in hearing from us. It's a beautiful picture of His love for us. When you listen to the song, allow the thought of, "It's why God I run to Your arms/ Over, and over again/It's Why God I cling to/Your love and hold on for dear life/And I find You are right by my side/Always right by my side" to bring you to a place of worship. 

God is speaking to us in His still small voice. As believers, we need to take time to "be still and know that He is God." Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your life? Are you spending time listening to Him? He'll make you free. God wants to hear from you. With everything going on in our world, we need the encouragement that God is with us and that we're not alone. There is no day, no hour of the day, in which our Lord Jesus is not present. It's about submitting all of ourselves to Him and His goodness and allowing His blood to cover us and run through our veins.
 
By stepping into the Lord's ability instead of relying on ourselves, we are empowered by the supernatural ability of God. God loves you so much. Lean on Him and He'll give you strength. Sometimes, we put up a wall between us and God. He just wants us to come home to Him. His love for us will never change, and nothing can separate us from it. We were dead in our sins and by grace we were saved and made alive in Christ. That's reason to sing, "I don't understand/But I understand/Why God I need You/It's Why God I run to Your arms/Over, and over again." Amen to that.