It took Zach Williams traveling to Europe, riding in a van and hearing Big Daddy Weave to realize things needed to change.
“It’s a pretty incredible story, what God’s done in my life, throughout my life,” reflected Williams during a recent appearance on CBN’s “Faith vs. Culture,” where he talked about his forthcoming memoir, “Rescue Story: Faith, Freedom, and Finding My Way Home,” releasing Feb. 27.
In high school, Williams developed a penchant for drugs—addictive behaviors he carried into his twenties, when he joined a rock band, stepping into a world of decadence and indulgence.
“We started traveling and touring, which that just led me down an even darker path,” said Williams. “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.”
For more than a decade, Williams was all in, trapped in a downward spiral.
“I went pretty hard,” he admitted. “I didn’t 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.”
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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—unless something changed—he was on a path that would cost him everything, including his wife and children.
Sick and tired of being sick and tired, Williams asked God to prove Himself to him.
“I 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 ‘Redeemed‘ by Big Daddy Weave come across the radio and, man, that song just hit me; it struck a chord,” said Williams. “I listened to the lyrics when I got to the hotel room and I called my wife and I said, ‘Hey, I’m done. I’m out of here,’ and she couldn’t believe it. But I came home from that tour and quit my band and I cancelled all my shows.” {eoa}
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Reprinted with permission from cbn.com. Copyright © 2024 The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. All rights reserved.
