Grace Graber Leans Into Her Testimony With 'Grace of God'
Grace Graber is leaning into the triumph of her testimony on “Grace of God,” the latest single from her upcoming album Breakthrough. The song is available now on all streaming platforms.
The song was birthed through a writing session at Apple Music. Grace was writing with Joseph O'Brien, and their session happened to fall on her birthday.
“I didn't think I'd live to see 28,” Grace recalls telling her cowriter. “If I had gone through with my plan of taking my own life as a teenager, I would not have seen my life today. By the grace of God, I'm still alive. And when I think of grace of God, I think of favor and goodness and it not needing to make sense.”
That feeling of a supernaturally nonsensical life has pursued Grace Graber through recent years. She won a national songwriting competition that led her to Nashville. She won the We Love Award for Next Big Thing. She’s had an independent music career blow up, including collaborating with original Hawk Nelson singer Jason Dunn, whose songs originally helped save her life. She’s impacted fans through her candid Conversations EP and a series of singles that fearlessly navigate the intersection of faith and mental health.
And all of that almost didn’t happen.
“The beauty of the grace of God is that God saw me in my pain and said, ‘I am going to make better things happen.’ And I think about how much I sin, how much I worry, how much I fall short. Sometimes, I don't really deserve to be able to speak into other people's lives. And it's not me who gets to decide that or qualify myself. This is the grace of God: it’s because of God that I'm even able to do this,” Grace confesses freely.
“Grace of God” deepens the thematic course that Grace Graber’s past songs have charted, standing as proof that if God could do this in her life, He can do it for her listeners too. Grace offers the song to anyone feeling stuck in a struggle that they see no way out from. She wants them to know that grace means there is more than this moment of pain, and redemption has nothing to do with deserving.
“I have to fight for the girl who is feeling like the world is better off if she's not in it,” Grace says earnestly. “I have to fight for her. I'm really not doing this for anyone in the industry. I'm doing this for that girl.”
The emotional swell of the lyrics is backed by tender instrumentation and carried by Grace’s soaring voice, offering a gentler side of her punk rock sound. Joseph O’Brien also produced the piece after writing was completed.
“Grace comes in with a very clear idea of what she wants to communicate. A lot of times, having a clear song direction makes it really easy if you're producing or if you're a co-writer,” O’Brien shares. “The song is just a beacon of hope, showing what the work of God can do in your life. It leaves you different, it leaves you changed. Once you experience the grace of God, it is a reason to keep pushing forward and to keep living with purpose and identity.”
That has certainly proved true for Grace, who has been changed by grace and now seeks to be a channel of that same grace for others.
“I feel like this is my life anthem,” the singer reflects. “By the grace of God, I get to do all of this. And so I really am excited to point people to Jesus in this moment. I hope people feel like it's an anthem for themselves as well.”
