Love & the Outcome is made up of husband and wife duo Jodi King and Chris Rademaker. They made an immediate mark on the CCM scene with their debut album, featuring hit songs "He is With Us" and "King of My Heart." That album chronicled their journey of having departed their homeland of Canada and risking it all to pursue their musical dreams. Many of the songs reflect the need to rely completely on God's sovereignty to guide their "outcome." 

As new parents of a baby boy, Milo, the duo returned with their sophomore offering These Are the Days, which was preceded by the hit song "The God I Know." About the song's music video, Jodi shares, "Since Chris and I are both huge fans of 80's films like 'The Breakfast Club' and 'Say Anything,' we decided to give this one a throwback feeling. There is nothing quite like throwing your hands up and worries down." I had the chance to speak with Jodi about "The God I Know."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

It is a bit crazy how such a fun, roll your windows down and sing along kind of summer jam can actually pack a punch. It started as a conversation in the studio as we were talking about our upbringings. Chris and I both grew up going to church consistently with Christian parents, and still there was this underlying feeling that you had to work really hard and prove yourself to earn God's love. It's not like my parents ever raised me that way, but there was something about what I heard in church that presented that God would shake His finger at me rather than a loving Father who is working through me and is in me and loves me completely. We were discussing that and realized that we all had that in common, and we wanted to debunk that. 

Honestly, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and fall in love with His constant presence in our life, my perspective has changed a lot. When I write in my journal, talk with Him, sing about Him and what I am imagining the Father as throughout the day has changed dramatically. "No strings attached when You saved my soul, I want you to know the God I know" is Chris' favorite line of the song. It was really hitting us over the head again. Every single day we need to remember that there is nothing attached that we need to do for this gift from God.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Psalm 63:4 (VOICE): "I will bless You with every breath of my life; I will lift up my hands in praise to Your name."

Romans 6:23 (VOICE): "The payoff for a life of sin is death, but God is offering us a free gift--eternal life through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, the Liberating King."

Acts 2:28 (VOICE): "Instead, You direct me on a path that leads to a beautiful life. As I walk with You, the pleasures are never-ending, and I know true joy and contentment."
 
Deuteronomy 31:6 (NKJV): "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

John 20:29 (VOICE): "Jesus: Thomas, you have faith because you have seen Me. Blessed are all those who never see Me and yet they still believe."

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV): "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

Hebrews 11:8 (VOICE): "By faith Abraham heard God's call to travel to a place he would one day receive as an inheritance; and he obeyed, not knowing where God's call would take him."

What is the takeaway message?

Something that has been a theme for me and Chris has been to put our worship above our worry, and that's partly where the "then I threw my hands up, worries down" part of the song came from. Being a new mom and being pregnant when we were making the new album, I remember asking the Lord to make things clear and give me little ways to remember the things He was teaching me. I can get brain dead, and sometimes I really need the Lord to help me be present. He always desires to do that for us. "Hands up, worries down" was a daily reminder for me to remember that God has got me, and He's got things under control. 

Especially as a new mom, it can be overwhelming to walk too far ahead of your present moment. That's been the thing I've learned recently: I may know what I'm doing this same day next year, but unless I'm present in this very moment, I'm missing what the Lord is doing and saying and leading me to do. The problem with worry is that it keeps me focused on myself and is really selfish. The Lord is really calling me to look at Him, and to look at others. We are trying to not be so preoccupied with our situation, but to be able to look out and see what the Lord is asking us to do. When I'm worried and stressed, I can't do that. I thought I'd grow out of perfectionism, and what I've learned is putting on the Spirit of God helps me combat it, and talking about it out loud helps as well.

Lyrics:
If It Was All About Religion
What To Do, What To Say, What To Wear On A Sunday
All About Perfection
Black And White, Wrong Or Right, Never Grey
Well I'd Never Make It 
I'd Never Be Good Enough

I Tried To Walk The Line, Pray That I'd Find
Somethin' That I Knew Was Real
Began To Realize, The Harder I Tried
The Colder I'd Start To Feel
Until The Moment
The Second I Met Your Love

And Then I Threw My Hands Up
Worries Down
I Remember When He Showed Me How 
To Break Up With My Doubt
Once I was lost but now I'm found
No Strings Attached When He Saved My Soul
I Want You To Know The God I Know 
Oh, You Gotta Know 
Oh, The God I Know

He Is More Than Just A Rescue
Thats Where It Starts, Not Where It Ends
Let Freedom In
More Than Just A Story
In The Sky, Wearing White, He's Alive 
In Every Moment
And Now That I Know This Love

I Can Throw My Hands Up
Worries Down
I Remember When He Showed Me How

To Break Up With My Doubt
Once I was lost but now I'm found
No Strings Attached When He Saved My Soul
I Want You To Know The God I Know 
Oh, You Gotta Know 
Oh, The God I Know

What was I waiting for
I came alive when I let go
All I had was a broken heart
Then He held me in His arms

What was I waiting for
I came alive when I let go
All I had was a broken heart
Then He held me in His arms

I Can Throw My Hands Up
Worries Down
I Remember When He Showed Me How

To Break Up With My Doubt
Once I was lost but now I'm found
No Strings Attached When He Saved My Soul
I Want You To Know The God I Know
Oh, You Gotta Know
Oh, The God I Know

What was I waiting for
I came alive when I let go
All I had was a broken heart
Then He held me in His arms

What was I waiting for
I came alive when I let go
All I had was a broken heart
Then He held me in His arms

Hebrews 11:1 (NLT) says "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." We all walk by faith every day. As a follower of Jesus, the key is to walk by faith and to be guided in your daily walk by prayer and God's infallible Word, the Bible.

The beauty of walking by faith and not by sight is that we can trust God. As followers of Jesus, we know that we can trust God's Word. We are all a work in progress. Have faith and let God "work all things together for good." Spend time with God and let Him redeem and restore you. We are not at the end of our story. God's still writing our stories of redemption. God wants us to know that He's faithful to complete what's He's started in all of us who've put all of our hope and trust in Jesus for our salvation.

"The God I Know" is a great way to thank Jesus for our undeserved gift of grace. Grace is freely given and isn't something we can earn by our good works. It is a gift from God by faith in Christ Jesus. We are called as Christians to believe in the freedom that we have in the cross of Jesus. We are free from our addictions, our insecurities and perfectionism. Jesus came to die for us so that we can all truly live in Him. This song is also about submitting all of your worries, anxieties and stress to God and letting Him be your guide. God wants to walk beside you, and He wants us to be bold and unafraid. This song is about submitting to the Lordship of Jesus over our lives and acknowledging that "I can throw my hands up, worries down, I remember when He showed me how. No strings attached when He saved my soul, I want you to know the God I know." Amen to that!

Watch the music video below.