For worship leader and speaker Tasha Layton, the road to discovering her artistry has been a long, exhilarating one. Her journey to success has been hard, exciting, painful, and incredible—but the fruits of her labor are finally paying off.
The small-town roots artist has toured with pop icon Katy Perry and worked as an in-demand session singer in Los Angeles. After working in L.A., in 2019, she moved to Nashville to record her debut Christian album, Love Running Wild. The following year, in 2020, she dropped the Into the Sea EP, her follow-up release, featuring the stirring title track, “Into the Sea (It’s Gonna Be Ok).”
Now, a year later, she’s dropping another top-notch EP, Look What You’ve Done, a project that’s best described as an intimate personal worship experience with an inspirational and uplifting tone. The EP tells the story of redemption with the important message: rely on God’s plans because they’re higher than our plans. Each song gives a glimpse of how Tasha offers her Psalm-like prayers to God.
The reflective opener and hit single, “Look What You’ve Done,” is a wonderful prayer song capturing Tasha’s heart for God, allowing us to eavesdrop into her deep thoughts and musings about God’s goodness. Tasha’s engaging music and thought-provoking lyrics are something to truly savor. I had the chance to speak with Tasha about “Look What You’ve Done.”
Please tell me the personal story behind this song.
“Look What You’ve Done” is a testimony to God’s transforming power in my life. Writing it really putting my life’s testimony into song lyrics.
I wrote this song with songwriters AJ Pruis, Keith Everette Smith, and popular contemporary artist Matthew West. I told them at the beginning that I wanted to tell the story of what God has done in my life.
I wanted to write about the shame in my story. I wanted to write about how the enemy points his finger at me and causes me to believe his lies. Satan’s not powerful enough to bind us on his own but he can get us to believe lies about ourselves. Our minds are powerful. When we believe a lie, we live it out. The song is about believing in God and turning to His truth. When God speaks truth to us, it’s life-changing.
What I thought in my mind and what I felt in my heart were different. I was more frustrated when I would go to counseling and process through it. I knew the freedom that God was offering, but I was believing lies that the enemy had planted in my mind.
One of my favorite lines in the song is, “I thought I was too broken, but now I see You were breaking new ground inside of me.” The beautiful thing about my story is that, in many ways, it is every believer’s story: that God, in His great mercy, digs up the lies that we believe about ourselves—the lies that bind us—and replaces them with His truth.
I will never get over His faithfulness. Accusations like "you're not good enough" or "you really messed that up" or "how could you have done that?" no longer have power in the light of what Christ has done on the cross.
Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?
Lamentations 3:28-30(MSG): “When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst.”
Lamentations 3:22-24(MSG): “God's loyal love couldn't have run out, His merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left.”
Jeremiah 29:13(NIV): "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."
Psalm 30:11-12(VOICE): “You did it: You turned my deepest pains into joyful dancing; You stripped off my dark clothing and covered me with joyful light. You have restored my honor. My heart is ready to explode, erupt in new songs! It's impossible to keep quiet! Eternal One, my God, my Life-Giver, I will thank You forever.”
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.”
Romans 8:38-39(VOICE): "For I have every confidence that nothing--not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers, height, depth, nor any created thing--can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord."
2 Corinthians 12:9(NKJV): "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
Philippians 4:6(VOICE): “Don't be anxious about things; instead, pray. Pray about everything. He longs to hear your requests, so talk to God about your needs and be thankful for what has come.”
Philippians 4:7(NKJV): "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Revelation 12:11(NKJV): “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
What is the takeaway message?
An accusation is a tool used to bind us and keep us from being who God made us to be. But the good news of the Gospel is this: it doesn't matter what we've done. All of humanity falls short. No matter how deep our sin goes, God's love goes deeper. There have been times in my life when I thought I was broken beyond repair and it seemed as though shame had won.
Sometimes, however, that pain we feel is God growing us. Sometimes, the pain is God digging up the roots of lies we’ve believed so He can replace them with something true. The greatest truth is that Jesus died for every one of us. As I consider my salvation, I’m left with a sense of awe and wonder saying, “Jesus, look what You’ve done.” My prayer is that when others feel the finger of shame pointed at them—or even their own—that this song would be a reminder of God’s redemption.
Lyrics
Look what you've done How could you fall so far You should be ashamed of yourself So I was ashamed of myself
The lies I believed They got some roots That run deep I let em take A hold of my life I let em take Control of my life
Standing in Your presence Lord I can feel You digging All the roots up I can feel Ya healing All my wounds up All I can say is hallelujah
Look what You've done Look what You've done in me You spoke Your truth into The lies I let my heart believe Look at me now Look how You made me new The enemy did everything That he could do Oh but look what You've done
Suddenly all the shame is gone I thought I was too broken
Now I see You were breaking New ground inside of me
Standing in Your presence Lord I can feel You digging All my roots up I can feel Ya healing All my wounds up All I can say is hallelujah
Look what You've done Look what You've done in me You spoke Your truth into The lies I let my heart believe Look at me now Look how You made me new The enemy did everything That he could do Oh but look what You've done
On the cross, in a grave With a stone rolled away All my debt it was paid Look what You've done
In my heart, in my mind In my soul, in my life With my hands lifted high I'm singing Look what You've done
Look what You've done in me
You spoke Your truth into The lies I let my heart believe Look at me now Look how You made me new The enemy did everything That he could do Oh but look what You've done
On the cross, in a grave
With a stone rolled away All my debt it was paid Look what You've done
In my heart, in my mind In my soul, in my life With my hands lifted high I'm singing Look what You've done
Closing Thoughts
Many of the lyrics in “Look What You’ve Done” give me words to pray such as, “On the cross, in a grave/With a stone rolled away/All my debt it was paid/Look what You've done,” which is especially comforting in this time of anxiety as we all face this pandemic together.
Worship is about giving God our best, offering all ourselves to Him. All we can do is submit to Him and give everything we have to Him. So, rather than run to what hurts us, let’s run to God.
When I read the Bible, I’m strengthened with the truth that fear, worry, and anxiety are not God's plans for my life. So, trust God's Word. Jesus commands us to trust God's Word completely—no matter the circumstances.
Jesus died on the cross to set us free from the battle of our minds, from sin and death. Our thoughts are constantly under attack by the enemy. So, it’s hard to know which voice in our head we can trust. The Bible says to trust in what God says about us, no matter how we feel about ourselves.
God knows us intimately. And, because Jesus died for us, He sees us as holy, righteous, redeemed, chosen, fully known, and forgiven—no matter what we've done. If you've put all your hope and trust in Jesus, there's nothing that can separate you from His love.
For me, the most encouraging part of this song is the message that I don't have to be perfect, but that God knows me and loves me just as I am. That is cause for celebration as we all have the freedom to be ourselves and know that He has great plans for us as His children.
I hear in Tasha’s vocals a sincere yearning for God and thankfulness in her heart for God's mercy and grace. I'm completely convicted by the strong lyrics and find immense comfort in this song.
We can all make the choice to ask the Holy Spirit to indwell us with His supernatural ability to overcome whatever we’re going through. That’s what this song is all about.
Tasha’s hope is to pass on the life-giving message of Jesus Christ. So, allow the Holy Spirit to cast a light into your life. If you’re struggling with depression, please know with certainty these life-giving words: “Look what You've done in me/You spoke Your truth into the lies I let my heart believe/Look at me now/Look how You made me new/The enemy did everything/That he could do/Oh but look what You've done.”Amen to that.
NRT lead contributor Kevin Davis is a longtime fan of Christian music, an avid music collector, and credits the message of Christian music for leading him to Christ. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and three daughters.
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