{"id":16446,"date":"2024-02-15T09:36:22","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T14:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=16446"},"modified":"2024-02-15T09:36:22","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T14:36:22","slug":"zach-williams-shares-how-fellow-christian-artists-song-drastically-changed-his-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2024\/02\/zach-williams-shares-how-fellow-christian-artists-song-drastically-changed-his-life.html","title":{"rendered":"Zach Williams Shares How Fellow Christian Artist’s Song Drastically Changed His Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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@zachwilliamsmusic\/Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It took Zach Williams traveling to Europe, riding in a van, and hearing Big Daddy Weave to realize things needed to change. Williams reflected during a recent appearance on CBN\u2019s \u201cFaith vs. Culture,\u201d where he talked about his forthcoming memoir, \u201cRescue Story: Faith, Freedom, and Finding My Way Home<\/a>,\u201d releasing Feb. 27, \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty incredible story, what God\u2019s done in my life, throughout my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams developed an affinity for drugs in high school, addictive behaviors he carried into his twenties when he joined a rock band, stepping into a world of decadence and indulgence. He said, \u201cWe started traveling and touring, which that just led me down an even darker path. I thought in order to play music, I needed to live a certain lifestyle. If I was gonna be in a rock band, that meant you did drugs, and you use alcohol on a daily basis, and you live this reckless lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more than 10 years, Williams was all in, trapped in a downward spiral. He admitted, \u201cI went pretty hard. I didn\u2019t think about the next day; I just lived for the moment. And I carried it into a marriage; I carried it into being a father and a husband. In the summer of 2012, as he was traveling to Europe with his band, Williams said he came to the realization the way he was living was not sustainable. He was raised in the church and knew \u2014\u00a0unless something changed \u2014\u00a0he was on a path that would cost him everything, including his wife and children.<\/p>\n

Sick and tired of being sick and tired, Williams asked God to prove Himself to him. He said, \u201cI was riding in a van one day, and the guy driving the bus was scanning radio stations and, out of nowhere, I hear this song called \u2018Redeemed<\/a>\u2018 by Big Daddy Weave come across the radio and, man, that song just hit me; it struck a chord. I listened to the lyrics when I got to the hotel room. I called my wife, and I said, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m done. I\u2019m out of here,\u2019 and she couldn\u2019t believe it. But I came home from that tour and quit my band, and I canceled all my shows.\u201d<\/p>\n