It’s garnered tens of millions of streams & radio plays, becoming an anthem for a year it seems to have been written for specifically. But “Peace Be Still” was penned by debut artist Hope Darst in a time she never imagined what 2020 would hold. And as she looks at what God has done with it, she marvels at His goodness & His plan.
“It’s just humbling, because I didn’t start this journey trying to be an artist. I was just a stay at home mom that served my local church as a worship leader, and I really was writing songs for my church. Writing songs to just give language to the season I was in. And so to step back now, and to watch the song have the impact it’s had, it’s just a beautiful testament.”
“I just think of the power of songs & the power of God. To be a part of anything – like just standing in the grocery store with someone who needs you to look them in the eye and tell them it’s going to be ok. That God loves them. That has just as much impact eternally as a song does.”
The word “success” carries much deeper meaning to Hope than simple numbers and plays.
“I think I’ve done life long enough with the Lord to not get caught up in the numbers of it – to not get caught up in whether it’s doing well or not doing well. That is excess. But if this song has walked one person from a place of fear and doubt to a place of faith and trust, then that is eternal success, which is what I’m after anyway.”
“It’s crazy. It’s humbling. And yet it’s also really sweet to watch how God can use something born in your own life, that you weren’t thinking about someone else really when we were writing it. I mean, it was there to some degree. We were thinking about our local church when we were writing it because we did think, ‘Well, maybe it’s a song that one day our church could sing.’ But it just still blows me away! I’m not I’m not going to lie!”
Hope Darst is a recording artist & worship leader whose debut album is titled Peace Be Still – featuring the single of the same name that’s spoken so powerfully to so many this year.
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On the Road with Hope Darst
