By Lord Redeemed cover art

By Lord Redeemed

Still His

Written by Shane Pierson

The words

Two a.m., eyes wide, ceiling won't blinkFan cuttin' circles while I overthinkHeart full of static, head full of doubtTryna find peace but I keep fallin' out

Talk to myself like I'm hard to defendLike I'm the reason love always endsReplay my failures, rewind my shameAsk if my purpose still knows my name

I treat my soul like it's conditionalLike grace comes thin, like love is minimalBut that voice don't sound originalAnd it don't feel spiritual

There's a Father who loves mercyYeah, He just loves it so muchDoesn't wait till I'm worthyJust reaches out and picks me up

I don't gotta earn forgivenessI don't gotta wear my pastI'm still held inside His promiseBy redemption built to last

I say I'm sorry, mean it every timeStill scared I crossed some unseen lineLike I've asked too much, like I'm overdueLike Heaven's tired of pullin' me through

I keep countin' sins, it's how I startLike the cross only covered partBut love don't flinch, and grace don't stallAnd mercy doesn't fear the fall

If redemption had a limitI woulda hit it long agoIf Christ already finishedWhy am I still payin' slow?

There's a Father who loves mercyYeah, He just loves it so muchDoesn't wait till I'm worthyJust reaches out and picks me up

I don't gotta earn forgivenessI don't gotta wear my pastI'm still held inside His promiseBy redemption built to last

If I'm still breathin', He ain't leavin'If I'm still reachin', He's still nearDoor was open before I knockedAnswer came before the fear

He knew my end before my startKnew my mess before my heartGrace don't crack, and love don't bendRedemption didn't depend on when

There's a Father who loves mercyIt's His joy, not His demandDoesn't shame me into changin'Just keeps holdin' out His hand

I lay it down, the weight, the fightEvery lie I tried to proveI'm redeemed, not by my effortBut by what He already did

By Lord… redeemedYeah, I'm still His

The story behind it

It was late. Real late. The house was quiet and I was laying there staring at the ceiling, doing that thing where your brain decides it's time to bring up every dumb decision, every weakness you thought you were past, every reason you should be further along than you are.

Same loop I've run a hundred times. Maybe its a post 40 thing, or stress induced, or that a dumb snow storm has my wife stuck in Atlanta. You choose. You are probably right.

Well, I kept thinking about something the apostle, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, said years ago that I've never really been able to shake. He talked about how God loves mercy. Like actually loves it. Not just allows it. Not just puts up with us asking for it again. It's His favorite thing to do.

That hit me hard laying there in the dark, because if that's true, then the way we talk to ourselves makes no sense. Man, we are brutal with ourselves.,,

We act like we're wearing out our welcome with God. Like we've asked for forgiveness one too many times. Like He's gotta be rolling His eyes when we show up again with the same stuff. We assume there's some invisible line we're about to cross where mercy runs out and disappointment takes over.

But that's just not how this works. It can't be. The Atonement of Jesus Christ isn't some delicate, fragile vase that must be handled with care. It doesn't say, "Okay, but this is the last time." It was built for repeat visits and maybe even obsessive use of it. It is built for all people as we mess up, get up, mess up again, and still keep turning back.

And here's the part that I needed to hear that night, and maybe you do too:

Sometimes we're not waiting on God to forgive us. We're the ones refusing to let Him. We deny ourselves mercy and call it accountability. We sit there and hang onto shame and pretend it's humility. We keep punishing ourselves long after Christ already paid for it.

At some point, that's not being disciplined. It's just straight up not trusting Him.

So yeah, this song came out of that moment. Laying there. Tired. Honest. Realizing we needed to stop arguing with God's Mercy and just let Him do what He actually wants to do. Which is show mercy. Over and over.

If you're reading this and you're stuck in that same late-night headspace, here's the reminder I needed:

Stop denying the Lord the chance to be merciful to you. Just quit it. He loves you way too much for that.

That's the heart of this song.

Pass it on

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