Kari Jobe says 'God’s nature is good;’ He helped her get through ‘extreme depression’ ahead of album
Grammy-nominated worship leader Kari Jobe will be releasing her new album, The Blessing, on Friday and says her music was birthed out of a difficult time in her life.
The Blessing is Jobe’s first album in more than three years and features her song of the same name, which became a global worship anthem this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Jobe said the song was the last one written for her album and she felt an urgency to release it, hoping it will speak to those struggling with fear and depression.
“I felt compelled for it to be released quickly, which was a week before the pandemic hit. It's just been such a journey,” She told The Christian Post on Wednesday.
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The entire record was recorded and captured live while the world was in lockdown due to the novel coronavirus.
Jobe taped the musical experience in her home church, The Belonging Co in Nashville, Tennessee.
"It's just wild, the way that we can hear the Lord and just be obedient to what we hear,” she said of how the songs on the album came to her.
"It's pretty crazy that you can hear so clearly, and you don't always understand why you're hearing something. The timing of 'Your Nature' on this new album, I'm just floored because we wrote it a year ago. I think had we released this song a few months ago, or even a year ago, I don't know that a barren season would have connected as much. I don't know that people would have felt like they were in a wasteland. But right now, they're connecting to those words,” She added.
The song “Your Nature” declares that God is good in every season, especially in those that are dry and barren, a topic Jobe says she couldn’t have known the world would be in upon its release.
"When I wrote the song, it came from an experience I had with the Lord where the Lord was just reminding me that His nature is good,” Jobe said. “I was dealing with extreme postpartum depression right after I had my second baby. At the time, I didn't realize that's what it was, but then later, my mom helped me realize that.”
"The Lord just used the phrase, 'My nature is good,' to really set me free from some intense fear I was walking through,” she added. “At the time, it just set me free and then I just sat with some friends and was like, 'I just want to write a song about the nature of God and what does that really mean when He says: 'My nature is good.’''
The worshiper went on to say that when dealing with depression, she becomes annoyed when others tell her, “‘God will turn it for good.'”
“Yes, He will, but in the middle of something difficult, it doesn't feel very comforting yet. Right now, it's not good, and so what does that really mean?” she said. “Instead of saying it like that, I love to just say, 'God is good.' It's not as painful; it doesn't hurt as bad. It brings this unbelievable supernatural healing that we can't explain and can't fully understand. It's like a healing balm.”
Jobe said it’s God’s nature to be good, and “He doesn't know anything else.”
“When He says He's faithful, He is faithful. When He says that He'll take something and turn it for good, He'll do that because that's just His heart for us,” the mother of two told CP. “That's faith, isn't it? What we are called to do is just have to trust Him.”
Jobe's latest single, “First Love,” is her heart cry. The tune urges people to return to blind faith in God, based on Revelation 2.
"Just the simple truth of what happens when we put our perspective back in the place that God wants it to be in. We don't have to figure it all out. We don't have to have all the answers. We don't have to even have the right president; God's got it, “Jobe maintained. “We don't have to be afraid. We can trust God, we can seek first the Kingdom of God and let Him take care of everything else.”
She added: "The heart of the song is also out of Revelation 2 where God says, 'I want you to return to your first love.' I love this line, He says, 'Go back and do the things you did at first.' If you think about when we first got saved, we didn't worry, we were so grateful for mercy. We were so grateful for learning about forgiveness and learning that God cared and that God loved us.”
The Texas native encouraged Christians to keep their minds “filled with those truths and those promises.”
“He's saying, 'I want you to be reminded that this is about me, this is about my goodness, this is about what I've done to pay for your sin on the cross,'” Jobe said of God. “I think it takes the striving out of our relationship with Him. I think more than anything, is just to be reminded that He loves us so much. He wants us to come back to Him as our first love because He knows the spiritual aptitude of what that does in our spirit.”
The singer offered advice for anyone who might find themselves struggling in life, just as she was after the birth of her second child. She insisted that people strive not to become isolated.
“This whole season is so difficult because we're supposed to isolate and distance, but you don't have to do that spiritually. It's important to still have those conversations and text messages. I think in a season of isolation, you can think like, 'Oh, everyone else is dealing with their own stuff, and so I'm not going to bother somebody.' But I think everyone else is having the same kind of day. So it's like staying in community, staying in relationship.”
Jobe shared some of the practical things she has been doing to keep herself encouraged and focused on her first love.
"For me, I have to read a book. I love the Bible, I read the Bible, but I also have to be in a study. Something where I'm letting the Holy Spirit use that to speak to me in a different kind of way,” she explained.
"I think it's just a season to try things that are new, get out of the old routines,” she said.
Jobe ended the interview by sharing her gratitude to God for how the music has already impacted the lives of thousands around the world.
"I'm really thankful to just lend my voice in this season, to just help people connect to the heart of the Father. He's just so good, and He cares so deeply for us.” Jobe said.
“I love that I feel trusted, and I feel just like everyone's friend. I feel so honored in this season to get to say, 'Hey, I know it's a hard season, but the truth from the Word of God has not changed, and there's an exchange that happens when we worship. So let's worship, let's let this wash over us.”
The Blessing will be available on Oct. 23. For more information, visit Jobe’s website.
