Bethel Music's Steffany Gretzinger has a deep desire to create worship music that goes beyond the usual boundaries of the genre. Her heart to listen before she sings creates exquisite and refreshing music to aid listeners in experiencing God. You can hear Steffany's anointed, emotive and prophetic worship in Bethel's "You Know Me," "Closer," "Letting Go," "Be Still" and "We Dance" from You Make Me Brave.

Steffany delivered her first child Wonder Grace near the release date of her solo debut album The Undoing. It was one of my top 3 worship albums of 2014. It has eleven original worship songs, all beautifully produced in a stripped down piano/guitar style. These songs were written from a place of reflecting on what it means to be undone by God. The project is intended to lead listeners to that place also. The Undoing is an excellent set of songs that focus on the central themes of asking God to inhabit our inner being and truly allow the power of the Holy Spirit to sanctify us, along with relying solely on the love of Jesus to mold our hearts and make us more like Him. I really love how expressive these songs are. 

Steffany sings songs with an amazing passion, with unashamed praise and gratitude to our Savior that is very inspiring and emotionally moving. All of her songs are poignant and powerful with earnest, worshipful lyrics. I had the chance to speak with Steffany in-person before a Bethel Music Worship Night event about "Out of Hiding."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

I think on this side of Heaven and in an imperfect world, we all deal with insecurity in some way. We all in the Church have this idea that although He's a perfect God, and He's holy and He's just, and He has wrath, but it's His kindness that leads us to repentance. He's a kind God. He's a good Father who pays attention to His kids. He created us with so much detail and intricacy. He's all about those things. He's first a Father. 

It's been sad that some of us were born into the idea that God's a tyrant and we're in trouble when we do something wrong. He's a Father who longs to gather us, wrap us in His arms and love us so much that we won't want to go back to living the wrong way. He literally loves the hell out of us. He loves the longing for anything but Him out of us. Once we've tasted the kindness of a Good Father, nothing else is desirable. 

The more we are in His arms, the more we see that, and come out of that hiding place. We all go in and out of that hiding place. On this side of Heaven, we all face insecurity, but maybe we get to a place where it doesn't live inside of us. When the Lord has delivered us from fear, when His arms are wrapped around us and we are delivered from fear by His perfect love, we still face it because we live in an imperfect place with people who are well-meaning but have a distorted view of fathers.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Psalm 46:1 (VOICE): God is our shelter and our strength. When troubles seem near, God is nearer, and He's ready to help. So why run and hide?

Zephaniah 3:17 (VOICE): The Eternal your God is standing right here among you, and He is the champion who will rescue you. He will joyfully celebrate over you; He will rest in His love for you; He will joyfully sing because of you like a new husband.

Luke 11:11-13 (VOICE): Some of you are fathers, so ask yourselves this: if your son comes up to you and asks for a fish for dinner, will you give him a snake instead? If your boy wants an egg to eat, will you give him a scorpion? Look, all of you are flawed in so many ways, yet in spite of all your faults, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to all who ask!

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV): Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 John 3:1 (NLT): See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know Him.

1 John 4:18-19 (NKJV): "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us."

What is the takeaway message?

For this song, I literally felt the heart of a Good Father who was after one of His kids who had begun to judge herself. She was standing at a distance instead of running into the arms of the only One who could heal her of the things she was ashamed of. 

I have a wonderful earthly father. He's kind, loving and he was very affirming while I was growing up. There wasn't a day where I didn't know I was beautiful. I had a really good father, but he would admit he's not a perfect father. How much more am I loved by my perfect Heavenly Father? I had to remember not to put my father on a pedestal. I need to let God be my perfect Father. The more I let myself be loved by Him, the more I lean into God and let Him into my heart, He's even better and even kinder than I thought. It gets sweeter and sweeter, and the closer I get to Him, the more clear His language of love becomes to me. 

I can't speak for Him, but I feel like in this song He is speaking to us from His perspective, and the more I let Him into that place, the more I feel like His daughter and can sing the words of my Father with tenderness and know that He means every word. I am so undone by God. I'm glad I didn't keep those thoughts to myself and shared them, even though they are so vulnerable. If I haven't had the encounter with God first, I can't share it with others. It's an everyday message. We are sheep and we forget His kindness and goodness, and we shouldn't forget how much God wants to love us. We shouldn't be afraid of intimacy with God.

Lyrics:
Come out of hiding
You're safe here with Me
There's no need to cover
What I already see

You've got your reasons
But I hold your peace
You've been on lockdown
And I hold the key

'Cause I loved you before you knew it was love
And I saw it all, still I chose the cross
And you were the one that I was thinking of
When I rose from the grave

Now rid of the shackles, My victory's yours
I tore the veil for you to come close
There's no reason to stand at a distance anymore
You're not far from home

I'll be your lighthouse
When you're lost at sea
And I will illuminate
Everything

No need to be frightened 
By intimacy
No, just throw off your fear
And come running to Me

'Cause I loved you before you knew it was love
And I saw it all, still I chose the cross
And you were the one that I was thinking of
When I rose from the grave
Now rid of the shackles, My victory's yours
I tore the veil for you to come close
There's no reason to stand at a distance anymore
You're not far from home
Keep on coming

And oh as you run
What hindered love
Will only become
Part of the story

Baby, you're almost home now
Please don't quit now
You're almost home to Me

This song begins with these prayerful words sung from the perspective of our Father God singing over us "Come out of Hiding, you're safe here with Me, there's no need to cover what I already see." Right from the opening notes, you'll be captivated by the melody and message of this amazing song. The song celebrates one of the truths we can cling to as believers. In our fallen and sinful tendencies, God still thinks of us as His children. Once you've accepted Jesus as our substitute and Savior, God views us as white as snow through the blood of His Son, instead of in our dirty states. That alone is cause for celebration.

We all deal with some level of fear, worry and anxiety. God knows that about us, and as I've read that He tells us to not have fear or worry in His Word 365 times, enough for one time each day, I have been attentive to that concept in my daily Bible study. I have found that by being washed by the water of the Word, I am strengthened with the Truth that God wants us to know that fear, worry and being anxious is not His plan for our lives. By reading the Bible every day, God wants us to have a daily reminder not to be afraid.

Being a Christian father of three young daughters, this song reflects the yearning for Jesus that I pray for my daughters' to feel in their hearts as well. Believing the words of this song is a great way to work on the disciplines of self-examination and prayer. You can know Jesus personally. Reach out to Him and know with certainty: "perfect love casts out fear." This album is all about finding our true identity in Christ. He is the answer. A great comfort of this song is to allow the Truth of these words to sink in: "No need to be frightened by intimacy, no, just throw off your fear and come running to Me." Amen to that!

Watch the lyric video below.