Roy Tosh is a rapper born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. You might have seen his skills in a video on the most recent Roadshow Tour. His newest album Above The Water is available now, and it features the standouts "Stronger (feat V. Rose)" and "Underdog feat Aaron Cole)."

According to his biography, "Despite the absence of a musical background, Roy Tosh found himself filled with a message that poured out of his soul through rap music. Remembering the influence that rap artists had on his teenage years, Tosh knew that there was no better way for him to reach others with a positive message. Roy Tosh delivers an authentic message about life--and adds to it the hope that is only found through the Gospel." I had the chance to speak with Roy about "Stronger."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

The inspiration behind this song was almost losing my dad. We were told five different times that he wouldn't make it through the night. He suffered from a stomach aneurysm, and it was out of left field. I remember the Christmas before that year, we would work out together, and he was healthy. He is a college Bible studies professor, and one day on his way to class, I got the worst phone call of my life. 

It was a difficult time, and it started a three month process that was a rollercoaster where we were told five different times that we were going to lose him. If you can imagine, it was high and low overload. He would undergo a successful surgery, and then he would have to undergo another serious surgery that was life threatening. During the process of that, God was with us every single step of the way. With the doctors, the hospital, God was in every detail. I learned through that about how "God is an ever-present help" because we lived it. I don't know how we would have made it through without God. 

God was with us and gave us faith to believe for even the next minute, and hope to endure all the ups and downs. By the grace of God, my dad is alive today. The doctors want to write a book about him, because he is a legit medical miracle. From day one, they gave him less than a 10% chance to survive, and they said he shouldn't be here today. We are really thankful for that. He is a believer, so we knew where he was going, but we are grateful to God to still have him here with us. 

I knew the Bible passages about God providing comfort during our times of trouble and struggle, and during that time with my dad, those Scriptures came alive and God comforted our whole family. Prayers were heard all over the world for my dad from the church. That's the personal inspiration for the song.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Psalm 46:1 (NIV): "The Lord is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble."

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (VOICE): "All praise goes to God, Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. He is the Father of compassion, the God of all comfort. He consoles us as we endure the pain and hardship of life so that we may draw from His comfort and share it with others in their own struggles. For even as His suffering continues to flood over us, through the Anointed we experience the wealth of His comfort just the same."

Romans 8:31 (NLT): "What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?"

Romans 8:11 (VOICE): "If the Spirit of the One who resurrected Jesus from the dead lives inside of you, then you can be sure that He who raised Him will cast the light of life into your mortal bodies through the life-giving power of the Spirit residing in you."

1 Peter 5:10 (NIV): "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

Psalm 23:1 (VOICE): "The Eternal is my Shepherd, He cares for me always."

Psalm 55:22 (NIV): "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken."

1 Peter 5:7 (NKJV): "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

Romans 8:28 (NKJV): "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV): "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Matthew 19:26 (NIV): Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Hebrews 11:1 (NLT): "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV): "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

What is the takeaway message?

There is suffering all over the world. I wanted to encourage people and let them know that life happens, and we have no control over our circumstances sometimes. When circumstances are dealt us that seem hopeless and overwhelming, if we focus on what is happening to us, we can feel like we are drowning and hopeless. What I learned is that if we look up to Christ through that and look above our circumstances, He literally gives us the strength we need to get through, the faith to believe, and the healing that we needed in a real and tangible way. 

God's love surrounded us during that time as we looked to Him as a family. That's what we needed the most. We are much, much stronger now as a family, and personally my faith is much stronger. We are really thankful that my dad is still with us. 

Run right into the open arms of Jesus. He will truly give us the strength to face whatever circumstances are in front of us. If you feel knocked down and counted out, look to the Savior. He rose after three days. That's the dope thing. Peter was called out to walk on the water, and when he looked at the storm, he started to sink. If we look at the storms instead of Christ, then we are going to feel like we are sinking. Look to God, and we will rise.

Lyrics:
Hold on a little longer
It's almost the end
You're tired of losing feel like you never gonna win
Gotta go a little stronger
And never give in
Cause when you're falling down He'll help you get up again
Oh when you're falling down He'll help you get up again

Yeah how long till this darkness passes? (how long?)
No beauty man all I'm seeing is ashes
I'm tryna climb but I'm stuck at the bottom (bottom)
One breath I'm drowning and sinking into this madness
Now I see my problems never fight back
Got me looking for the wrong way
Yeah feeling like I'm in a nightmare
Man I know I gotta wake up someday
Everybody I know telling me that they're praying
A lot of words but I don't really hear what they're saying
Long days I suffer
Dark days like thunder
I've been treading water but I'm about to go down and under

Hold on a little longer
It's almost the end
You're tired of losing feel like you never gonna win
Gotta go a little stronger
And never give in
Cause when you're falling down he'll help you get up again
Oh when you're falling down he'll help you get up again

We got to hold on (hold on)
Oh, yeah, oh, uh-uh, oh
Because it's making you stronger
We got to hold on
Oh, yeah, oh, you know yeah
You know it's making you stronger
We got to hold on

Tryna get away from all of this pain
It's like I can't catch a break afraid
Holding on but I don't know how much longer I can feel my fingers slippin' away
Dang, now I'm feeling so frustrated
Why is it always so complicated?
I just don't know if I can take it
I am breaking
When you need some help
Trouble all around you
Feeling like you're lost just look to the one who found you
Was down but he rose up again
And the same power that did that
Lives in you so just keep on fighting

Hold on a little longer
It's almost the end
You're tired of losing feel like you never gonna win
Gotta go a little stronger
And never give in
Cause when you're falling down he'll help you get up again
Oh when you're falling down he'll help you get up again

We got to hold on (hold on)
Oh, yeah, oh, uh-uh, oh
You know it's making you stronger
We got to hold on
Oh, yeah, oh, you know yeah
You know it's making you stronger
We got to hold on
Oh, yeah, oh, uh-uh
You know it's making you stronger
We got to hold on
We got to hold on
We got to hold on

This is a great song about having faith that God participates in the lives of His people. We need to have faith that God participates meaningfully in our lives as followers of Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us, He's with us during our battles. Jesus commands us to trust God's Word completely, no matter our circumstances.

"Stronger" is a true celebration of the great biblical truth of "Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" from Ephesians 3:20. One of the greatest witnesses that followers of Jesus can demonstrate to non-believers to show them the upside-down Kingdom of God is to live out the words of this song and have that inner-joy, which is supernatural. That joy shows observers of Christians walking through valleys that they have the hope and joy of the love of God and live out His plans for them and not forsake Him.

This song represents the victory that we have over our battles before we even know the earthly outcome by trusting that God is going before us, and He wins. We can face our daily battles with more courage and strength because we know that whatever the outcome, based on His promise in Romans 8:28, "God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

This song is a great opportunity to reflect on how, as we long for eternity, we can show others how Christ lives in our hearts. Sometimes people think that worship is something they do at an event, at church or only through music. We know from Scripture that a biblical definition of worship is a lifestyle of endless praise. Join in and sing before Him "Hold on a little longer, it's almost the end. You're tired of losing, feel like you never gonna win. Gotta go a little stronger and never give in, cause when you're falling down, He'll help you get up again." Amen to that!

Watch the music video below.