Bethel Music's Steffany Gretzinger has provided several moments of personal connection with God for me with her heartfelt lyrics. You can hear Steffany's anointed, emotive and prophetic worship in Bethel Music's "You Know Me," "Closer," "Letting Go," "Be Still," "We Dance," "King of My Heart" and "Extravagant," along with her solo songs, "Steady Heart" and "Out of Hiding." Her solo debut album The Undoing was one of my top 3 worship albums of 2014.

Gretzinger returned with Blackout on Good Friday 2018. The album is designed to be listened to in track order as you go on a journey with Steffany with the reminders that we can't save ourselves, and once we are redeemed by Jesus, we shine light that can't be dimmed. I had the chance to speak with Steffany about "Save Me."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

About this time last year, we found out that my dad was very sick with cancer, and we were going through a lot of personal issues with friends who were very close to our hearts. I went into rescue mode. I was a pastor's kid, and it was easy for me to learn to take care of people. There's this genuine side that comes from taking care of people, as that's my gift. But you get blinded when you try to fix things for people you love and try to rescue them. 

I was sitting with my dear friend Melissa Helser, who we all love very much. We were in my car and crying, and she leaned into me and grabbed my shoulder, and told me, "friend, you're not the hero of the story. There's only One Hero of the story, and His name is Jesus." I folded into sobs and I realized at that moment that I had been trying so hard to hold together what only the Lord can hold together. I let it all go and collapsed into the Hero of our story and let Him take it all.

I feel like this is one of the most important songs I've ever written. At some point, we all try to take things into our own hands, but He's actually the only One who can hold everything together. That was the very intense moment that started the song. I sat down with Amanda Cook, and we were both a mess, and we wrote this song together.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (VOICE): "I begged the Lord three times to liberate me from its anguish; and finally He said to me, "My grace is enough to cover and sustain you. My power is made perfect in weakness." So ask me about my thorn, inquire about my weaknesses, and I will gladly go on and on--I would rather stake my claim in these and have the power of the Anointed One at home within me. I am at peace and even take pleasure in any weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and afflictions for the sake of the Anointed because when I am at my weakest, He makes me strong."

Jude 1:5 (VOICE): "You have heard the stories many times, and the Spirit has enlightened you about their meaning, but you still need to be reminded. Remember when the Lord saved our ancestors from the land in Egypt? He breathed life into their earthen lungs and took back the life from those who did not believe."

Genesis 2:7 (VOICE): "One day the Eternal God scooped dirt out of the ground, sculpted it into the shape we call human, breathed the breath that gives life into the nostrils of the human, and the human became a living soul."

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."

Psalm 150:6 (NKJV): "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!"

2 Corinthians 4:6 (NKJV): "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (VOICE): "All of Scripture is God-breathed; in its inspired voice, we hear useful teaching, rebuke, correction, instruction, and training for a life that is right so that God's people may be up to the task ahead and have all they need to accomplish every good work."

What is the takeaway message?

The line "my weakness is my honor, not my shame" is from teaching by JD Gravitt, who is part of Jonathan and Melissa Helser's ministry in North Carolina. It's teaching he does in school. I was so moved by that, and it has changed my life. We asked his permission to use his line in the song. We are really grateful that he blessed us and allowed us to use that. 

The reason I wanted this song to come out first is that it sets the tone for the album. The songs are in a very specific song order on purpose, ending with the title track "Blackout." To start the album with "Save Me," in the place of being fully reliant and dependent on God, our confidence comes because we fall on Him who is the Savior. He is the only One who can save us.

Left to our own devices and vices, we will self-destruct. It's inevitable. We've watched it happen all through history. To set the whole stage with "it all starts with breathing You in" is a reminder that I've tried to do this on my own, but I'm going to stop and breathe You in, let You deeply transform me, and remind myself that You are the Hero. 

I die daily. Our dependency is something we need to continually choose. We feel the tendency to pull in the reins when we feel fear. That fear is only an invitation to lean into Him and let Him know you can't do this and He's the Hero. I hope people stop and embrace the song and encounter the Lord in that place and actually follow through. It opens up the rest of the album.

Lyrics:
I tried to be the hero for a day
But all my superpowers failed to save
So I turned in my ego and my cape
I was made to fly but not this way

It all starts with breathing You in
Breathing You in deeply
I've been drowning under my skin
No one but You can save me

My weakness is my honor not my shame
Leaning is my portion not my pain
I was frantic till You changed the pace
You won't give me more than I can take

It all starts with breathing You in
Breathing You in deeply
I've been drowning under my skin
No one but You can save me

You're my hero
You're the only One
Who is strong enough
You're my hero
You always pick me up
Before I self-destruct
You're my hero
You're the only One
Who is strong enough
You're my hero
You always pick me up
Before I self-destruct

It all starts with breathing You in
Breathing You in deeply
I've been drowning under my skin
No one but You can save me 

Steffany has been writing and singing her breath, given to her by God, into stirring songs. You'll be blessed by this powerful song which is a stand-out anthem with a convicting declaration: "It all starts with breathing You in, breathing You in deeply. I've been drowning under my skin, no one but You can save me." The song reflects the conviction and strength we can all have as God's army of dry bones who are filled with God's breath, and then we can breathe out as prophesied in Ezekiel 37. I can't get enough of "Save Me," which sets the tone for the entire worship experience with the beautiful declaration of dependence on God's provision in our lives.

This song is about our Savior and Hero, Jesus, who overcame the grave. All of us can relate to the confession, "I tried to be the hero for a day, but all my superpowers failed to save, so I turned in my ego and my cape, I was made to fly but not this way." This song represents the truth of the Christian walk. You die more to yourself and more to your pride and ambition every day when you are a follower of Jesus. That's what Jesus asks of us when He says, "Follow Me." When you drop everything and follow Jesus, you need to die to yourself, and that's when you truly live. Jesus calls us to have life, and life abundantly in Him.

We can't earn Heaven. It's only through complete surrender to Jesus and putting all of our hope in Him that can we be saved. In this song, you can hear Steffany's vertical expressions of relying completely on God for His breath and Holy Spirit to sustain her. The theme of the song addresses the universal human need to have God breathe through us and to inhale His love so that we can exhale it in turn. In the context of the song, once you realize that God came to rescue us, the love of God in our heart overflowing causes us to sing back to Him: "You're my hero, You're the only One who is strong enough. You're my hero, You always pick me up before I self-destruct." Amen to that!

Watch the lyric video below.