I’ll never forget the first time I heard Danny Gokey sing Tell Your Heart to Beat Again. I was on the way home from a meeting, alone in the car, and I wept as the poignant lyrics penetrated my heart. I knew the words described how our son must be feeling.

You’re shattered
Like you’ve never been before
The life you knew
In a thousand pieces on the floor
And words fall short in times like these
When this world drives you to your knees
You think you’re never gonna get back
To the you that used to be

Poor choices which led to devastating losses had left Robb battered and bruised, just going through the motions. Not really living.

 I’d been just going through the motions in my prayers for him as well. After years of praying for him, it felt like I had no prayers left to pray… until the words of this song sparked something new. Every time I heard it, I wept tears that expressed prayers too deep to be uttered for God to heal our son’s heart.

Chorus

Tell your heart to beat again
 Close your eyes and breathe it in
Let the shadows fall away
Step into the light of grace
Yesterday’s a closing door
You don’t live there anymore
Say goodbye to where you’ve been
And tell your heart to beat again

All the words of this song expressed what I wanted to say to our son, but couldn’t…

Verse 2

Beginning
Just let that word wash over you
It’s alright now
Love’s healing hands have pulled you through
So get back up, take step one
Leave the darkness, feel the sun
Cause your story’s far from over
And your journey’s just begun

Chorus

Verse 3

Let every heartbreak
And every scar
Be a picture that reminds you
Who has carried you this far
‘Cause love sees farther than you ever could
In this moment heaven’s working
Everything for your good

Chorus

Only God could do what needed to be done in Robb’s heart.

  Weeks passed and this song continued to be the most powerful prayer I  prayed for our son. In 2016 after his annual birthday trip to Mexico, Robb called me and told me this story.

     “The last day of vacation, I was sitting on a bench at the beach when I noticed a beautiful woman on the dock gazing out at the ocean. Eventually, I approached her and said, ‘You can look out there all you want, but I’m back here

“She laughed, we talked, and ended up going to out to dinner. She had a flight to catch, and I’ll probably never see her again, but for the first time in a long time I have hope that maybe I can have another relationship. I don’t know how to describe it, Mom, except to say that my heart ‘woke up.’ “

 I wept as I listened to Robb describe God’s answer to my prayers. Soon after, he invited a lovely woman who worked for the same company he did to go out to dinner. As God continued to answer my prayers, Robb made a new beginning.

None of us knew how short their time together would be as Robb died five years later of esophageal cancer, but God could not have provided a more loving caregiver for three of the most difficult months of Robb’s life. Nor could He have given us more precious additions to our family—our youngest red-haired granddaughter and her sweet Mama.

 I still cry nearly every time I hear Tell Your Heart to Beat Again─tears of gratitude that God prayed His prayers for Robb through this song every time I heard it and that He also answered those prayers.

(If you’d like to hear the story behind this song written by Bernie Herms, Randy Phillips and Matthew West…. So powerful. BEHIND THE SONG: Danny Gokey Shares The Heart Behind His Single “Tell Your Heart To Beat Again” | Freeccm.com)