Following up her impressive major label debut You Got My Attention, Fervent Records' Dara Maclean returned with Wanted, produced by Paul Mabury. The hit title track "Wanted" is an engaging song with Dara's passionate vocals setting the tone with the personal and uplifting lyrics, "You, you have been marked / You're set apart / And He calls you His / So you don't have to search  / Don't have to look for where you belong."

"Our Only Hope" establishes the soulful musical flow for the rest of the album and you can physically feel the emotion in Dara's vocals. She proclaims her statement of faith by praying, "You're the Healer to the broken, Shepherd to the lost...Our only hope is Jesus." I had the opportunity to interview Dara about "Our Only Hope." 

Please tell me the personal story behind writing this song.

I came across Hebrews 6:19, "the hope God that gives us is the anchor of the soul." The real truth of this song is that God our Father, has never not been carrying us. We can find hope and comfort as we call upon the God of the impossible, and He offers true, real hope which is Jesus. That Hebrews Bible passage so perfectly and accurately reflects my feelings.

The opening line of the song, "she keeps a picture of who she's lost" is something that both males and females can relate to. I'm a girl singer and I sing about heart and motive issues and naturally I draw on that. Anyone of any age just wants to be loved. This song speaks to impossible circumstances where there is no light at the end of the tunnel and your emotions are out to lunch. You feel like you have nobody who will go into the war with you. When you feel completely in despair, because of what you've done or had done to you, what the enemy does is cause despair with our guilt, condemnation, and shame. Either way, he's trying to rob our hope from us. 

Hope is such an interesting word. I think it sounds really negative for some reason. You hear people say, I hope so, and I hope it works out, and I hope they make it. Either way, when you hear those statements they sound void of any hope. In thinking about that, the hope that God tells us about in the Bible can only happen supernaturally. The peace that passes understanding can only happen in Jesus. Hope in and of itself is supernatural, wraps itself around us and carries us out of the pit emotionally, mentally, financially—not just a pat on the back, but spiritual gifts available to every child of God.

The Holy Spirit is our perfect Teacher. At any moment we can call out to Jesus and He will be our Helper, whether we are dealing with depression or self-harm. Those rescues are more miraculous than we even give Him credit for. We want to see signs, wonders and miracles. The healing of the heart, and hope in the darkness of night is a sign, wonder and miracle. The line that sums up the whole song is in the bridge. The Lord reminds me I've never been walking on my own two feet, and He's been carrying me all along.

Please tell me which Bible verses that you used to write the song.  

Hebrews 6:19-20 (NKJV): "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

Psalm 21:1 (NKJV): "The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord; And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!"

What is the takeaway message?

This album is a time and heart involved endeavor. This album is strategic in my heart, and is a culmination of my twenty-seven years of life and what I've been called to do, especially in the subject matter of justice. Everybody needs rescue, in Spirit, soul and body. We need rescue from the battle that is our minds, and emotions, at any age, this is a holistic need. The Lord's been unlocking those things to me.

Having more time working at church with my husband, I've been thinking about justice and justice is not just in the natural sense. God's justice is about redemption and restoration. When we say we want to see justice served, we are like the man in the Bible who was forgiven a debt and goes and tells someone to pay him what he is owed. The man had no mercy, and he was forgiven more than he could have possibly paid.

God wants to redeem you, even if it is the ugliest sin. We are living in a dark world, and the enemy would love for us to be desensitized to sin and the lines blurred, and I see God wrecking that. When I was thirteen years old, God put the words on my heart to cross over but not compromise. I'm going to write love songs. I'm going to write corporate worship songs in the way I sing them as an artist. I'm going to write songs about life. The world writes about every single topic from a worldly perspective. If there's not the answer, "God is love," of course I'm going to write a love song.

God defines and embodies what the truest form of worship looks like. It used to be a catch for me, like stubbing my toe, wondering if I could write both types of songs. You have to know the part of the body you are called to. The Holy Spirit fines tunes what that is specifically, and for me this year my goal is to not be a jack of all trades but I'm praying for my leading and vision. I think the Lord is fine tuning my music ministry. You can create music that has meaning in it from start to finish. I'm going to pray and trust in the Lord's perfect plan regardless of what it looks like.

Lyrics:
She still keeps the pictures up of who she lost
Joy is a memory that she forgot
Life wasn't fair to her
A cold room and all alone
She cries tonight, her prayers are angry words
They're questions why life wasn't fair to her

You're healer to the broken 
Shepherd to the lost
Father to the orphan
Adopted by the cross 
There's comfort in Your arms
It's where our healing starts
Our only hope is Jesus

He's tired of carrying his father's words
Telling him he's not enough, he has no worth
He's memorized the lines
He works his life away to measure up
And all he's left with is empty love
Even he can find the love he's been denied

Our only hope is Jesus

Even though I walk down broken roads
I will never have to walk alone
When I cannot stand on my own feet, You will carry me

Our only hope is Jesus
Our only hope is Jesus
Our only hope is Jesus

Dara pours her heart out in every single song on Wanted which allows listeners to eavesdrop on her expressing her deep feelings, prayers, and desires for holiness directly to God. I really enjoy how this album tells the story of redemption as each song gives a glimpse of how Dara offers her Psalm-like prayers to God.

Recently married last year, the album is seasoned with Dara's life experience and convictions. The album is filled with songs reflecting that she's loved, "blameless," "blessed," and made in the image of God. Her desire is to share that in Christ we are free from the burdens of guilt and shame and we are "wanted."

The themes of this song and album are universal to all listeners. Being a dad of three young girls, I especially hear how these songs speak to the need for a relationship with their Heavenly Father. These songs speak about identity, love, and justice. These are real life songs. If you like soulful singers like Joy Williams of The Civil Wars, Lana Del Rey, and Adele, you need to listen to this album. Dara's songs are direct and honest, and prayer-filled expressions of her faith in our only hope, Jesus. I share her passion for Jesus, and if you are looking for a song to lift up to our Savior as we approach Easter, sing along at the top of your lungs with the bridge of this song: "Even though I walk down broken roads, I will never have to walk alone, when I cannot stand on my own feet, You will carry me. Our only hope is Jesus." Amen to that!

(Listen to the song here.)