In 2015, I stumbled upon a song titled ‘Too Good’ by a girl named Jess Ray. In this song, the lines that really stood out to me were these - “Sweetheart stop cutting your sweet arms, smoking dope, and drinking your life away. Let’s dance and sing, Let’s eat from the tree, Come down to the river with me. It may be too good to be understood, but it’s not too good to be true”.
As someone who had been struggling with self-harm and who had been wresting through faith, this song hit me in a very vulnerable place. I had never heard Christian music that was so raw and honest. And I’m sad to say that just as quickly as I found it, I forgot about it for a few years. My life was still chaotic and messy, and I just wasn’t ready for these songs to touch my life yet. Though I was regularly attending church, I wasn’t a Christian. And the vulnerability that was in that song was not shown by the people around me. So I kept running.
In 2016 the Lord pulled me from the deep. He reached his hand into my near rock bottom and lifted me out. And in 2018, after I moved to college, I found some music that I absolutely loved. An album titled “Pull the Stars from the Sky”. By who you ask? Jess Ray, the same person whose music touched me before salvation as a teenager. And now this music became so important to me because it was clear evidence of the Lord following me and protecting me, even before I knew it.
The song whose title is the title of this post was on that album in 2018. Do You Believe That He Loves You became a Moto of sorts during that time in my life. I did not often doubt the existence or power of God, but I often doubted His love.
Last November I was able to meet Jess, and quickly learned that she is one of the most genuine and wonderful humans I’ve had the privilege to meet. She radiates the same energy her music does - authenticity and love and most of all the love of Christ.
Flash forward to a few weeks ago, the weekend before my birthday, I got these 7 little letters tattooed on my body forever. This tattoo is one of my favorites and holds a really special spot in my heart. Through many years and much new music being released, this song remains one of my favorites and a much needed reminder that I am loved by the king of the universe.
So as you go through your day and your week, remember that He loves you. The creator of the universe chose to love you, no matter your sins or struggles.
Listen to Jess’s music -
My tattoo-
