Focus on the Family Magazine - October/November 2022

FAITH & INSPIRATION / TRUSTING GOD
out to God: “Why am I so sick? I’m
doing all the things that You’ve asked
me to do.”
As he prayed in desperation, Luke
began to realize how God was trying
to get his attention. “That struggle
allowed me to accept grace, truly, for
one of the first times in my life. And
I’m not sure that is a lesson that we
can ever get tired of learning.”
Luke struggled with the disease for
the remainder of 2013 before he was
healthy enough to tour with Joel once
again the next year. But God wasn’t
done teaching Luke amid the struggles
of life—and not just his own
struggles.
God showed up
In 2014, for example, Courtney was
pregnant with their second son,
Phoenix. Her doctor prescribed
anti-nausea medicine to help her
with severe morning sickness, but
she became addicted to the pills.
Courtney’s struggle to overcome the
addiction and let go of her feelings
of guilt inspired the title track of For
King & Country’s third album, Burn
the Ships.
“Sometimes our past haunts our
futures,” Luke says, and Burn the Ships
calls listeners to leave the shame and
pain of the past “to plunge into a
future of hope.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic
hit in 2020, Luke and Joel spent their
time in lockdown writing some of
their latest hits—including “Together”
and “Relate”—encouraging their listeners
to show compassion for one
another and pull together amid the
struggles of life. Both songs appeared
on the group’s 2022 album, What Are
We Waiting For?
Then, amid the pandemic, Luke faced
yet another struggle. His voice began
to bother him, forcing him to undergo
vocal cord surgery in May of 2021.
Luke knew the risks that accompanied
the surgery. But as he lay in a
hospital bed, unable to speak during
the week after surgery, troubling
thoughts plagued him. What if I can’t
talk anymore? What if I can’t sing?
What if I can’t write songs? What if
my vocal cords are damaged beyond
repair?
Once again, God showed up to ease
Luke’s fears: “I felt God really clearly
say to me, ‘Look, it’s never been about
a voice. It’s never been about a song.
It’s never been about what you could
do or what you could accomplish. It’s
about the very fact that I love you, that
I cherish you despite those things. So,
if your voice never comes back, I’m
still God. I still love you.’
“Maybe,” Luke says, “I’m just one
of those silly people who has to have
things happen time and time again . . .
but that lesson never gets old.”
Sure enough, Luke’s vocal cords
began to mend, and he’s returned
once again to his music. But now he
knows, without a doubt, that he needs
God more.
More than ever before. •
Benjamin Hawkins is a freelance writer and
associate editor of The Pathway, the news
journal of the Missouri Baptist Convention.
INSPIRED MUSIC
Get For King & Country’s latest album,
What Are We Waiting For?
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FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2022