Episode #286 — Behind the song that’s filled our hearts and lifted us up this year is a remarkable story and an incredibly quick turnaround. The tremendous worship leader, songwriter & recording artist Kari Jobe shares how “The Blessing” came to be.

“It’s just pretty powerful because that weekend we recorded it, we didn’t intend to record it! We just had written it two days prior, and we were like, ‘Let’s try it this weekend!’ – which is pretty crazy. Usually you don’t try a song that quickly, but when we saw the response of the people in the room and just how powerful it felt, we just kept saying, ‘Man. Something feels powerful about this song right now.'”

The timing of how it came together is especially remarkable.

“This was a week before the pandemic started to lock down America, and we just really were compelled to get it out. So everybody just made it happen! Which was crazy, and very hard to do. But we were able to get it out on Youtube five days later from the day we recorded it. And that was a week to the day that Covid really arrived in America. Just pretty wild timing.”

One of Kari’s message this year has been that she hopes we hold on to some of what we’ve learned in 2020, and that we never really go back “to normal”. She takes us through what she means.

“Being Kingdom-minded is an upside down thing. The world today would say – if someone did something rude – you should hate them. If someone did something against you, you should fight them. It’s all these accusations. All negativity. But God does not work like that!

“He says, bless our enemies. God says to pour love on those that have shown us hatred. He says to turn the other cheek, and that’s hard to do in the middle of something that feels really real and raw. It’s something you don’t see the fruit of immediately all the time. But there’s just such a Kingdom principle in that. You reap what you sow, and I want to sow godliness. I want to sow kindness. I want to able to reap the fruit of joy, the fruit of hope, and of life.”

With that foundation laid, she explains why she sees 2020 in a different light from so many.

“I think people are like, I hate 2020! It’s so terrible! I actually think we’re going to all look back – and that whole phrase, ‘Hindsight is 2020’ – I think we’re going to all look back and realize our eyes were opened. To what we really think. What we really believe. I think it’s a good thing.”


Kari Jobe is the tremendous worship leader, songwriter & recording artist whose latest record just released, sharing its title with the extraordinary lead single – The Blessing.

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On the Road with Kari Jobe