Rescue Story: Faith, Freedom, and Finding My Way Home

Zach Williams definitely has a story to tell. As hard as it was for him and those around him during his worst times, his words shine a light on hope and the realization that nothing and no one is ever lost in the eyes and the hands of God. God does work in strange and mysterious ways, and he performed a miracle by transforming Zach into who I believe he is meant to be now. Zach is a great talent and a great inspiration for millions, including me. This is a hard yet wonderful and inspiring read.

Dolly Parton

As a fan of his music, as his friend, and as a brother in Christ, I’m proud of my buddy Zach Williams. If his songs have spoken to your heart the way they have mine, then I know his memoir Rescue Story is going to be a powerful and inspirational experience for you.

Chris Pratt, Actor and Producer

Failure is not final, and our faults don’t define us. Zach Williams’s new book is a deeply personal telling of his own creation, fall, redemption, and restoration, set to a story and song that will ignite an old church choir singing in your soul, hands raised, reminding you that God does not treat us according to our flawed performance but is forever committed to us because of His unfailing love, demonstrated by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Kirk Cameron

I need to be surrounded by people who are brave enough to be vulnerable. In these pages, Zach points to his Rescuer and not his own understanding. The humility in this book gives a proud reader like me full permission to need a savior.

Walker Hayes, Multi-Platinum Recording Artist

Copyright

ZONDERVAN BOOKS

Rescue Story

Copyright © 2024 by Zachary S. Williams

Published in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by Zondervan. Zondervan is a registered trademark of The Zondervan Corporation, L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

Requests for information should be addressed to [email protected].

Zondervan titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email [email protected].

ISBN 978-0-310-36846-5 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-310-36848-9 (audio)

ISBN 978-0-310-36847-2 (ebook)

Epub Edition January 2024 9780310368472

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

Any internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in association with the literary agency of WTA Media, LLC, Franklin, Tennessee.

Cover design and photography: Micah Kandros

Interior design: Denise Froehlich

Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

Please note that the endnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

To my wife and children for always standing

by my side. To my mom and dad for their

constant prayers. And to my family and

friends for all the love and support.

There I was empty handed

Crying out from the pit of my despair

There You were in the shadows

Holding out Your hand, You met me there . . .

You are my rescue story¹

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction: Plan for Me

Chapter 1: Big Dreams in a Small Town

Chapter 2: Free Throws and Personal Fouls

Chapter 3: Got to Run to Keep From Hiding

Chapter 4: Betrayal, Blunts, and the Blues

Chapter 5: MySpace, Her Space, Rock and a Hard Place

Chapter 6: Stumbling into the Truth

Chapter 7: Bar Stools and Church Pews

Chapter 8: Letting Go and Digging In

Chapter 9: When God Writes Your Story

Chapter 10: There Was Jesus

Afterword

Notes

Introduction

Plan for Me

When I was darkness, You were light

When I was dead You breathed new life

God, You changed my destiny

And now the only thing I see

Your relentless love . . . Ever chasing me²

The first night of my 2023 A Hundred Highways Tour was on a drizzly, cool March evening in Columbus, Georgia, at RiverCenter for the Performing Arts. As I sat in my dressing room, I prayed for the strength to follow through on the decision I had made to break the silence on a very personal story, one I had never shared from stage. Up to this point, I had only talked about it with a close circle of family and friends.

In the middle of our set, just before performing the song Plan for Me, through quite a few tears I had to constantly wipe away with my bandana, along with a broken, repentant heart, as King David wrote in Psalm 51, I shared these words with the sold-out crowd:

"If you have been to one of my concerts before, you’ve probably heard me talk about how I was raised in church and then, like a lot of kids do, I wandered away from how my parents raised me. I walked away from how I was brought up. Today, I know that my parents are responsible for everything I have in my life. Had it not been for the seeds that they started planting in me from an early age, I wouldn’t even be here tonight.

"I worked construction for my dad as he watched me go through my struggle with drugs and alcohol for many years. To be honest with you, I took advantage of Dad’s grace. He would do things like pay me, even when, at times, I didn’t show up for work. He was always there to share a word of encouragement. With all that was going wrong in my life, I can remember to this day how Dad would say, ‘Son, I don’t have an answer for you other than Jesus. He’s the reason why you’re here. He’s the reason why your mother and I are still together.’

"I remember when Dad finally told me his own story of life before Jesus. One thing I have come to realize these past few years is the devil comes to attack us with the same things that our parents and our grandparents and their parents struggled with. It’s a generational thing.

"Dad told me, ‘I’m just like you. I used to struggle with a lot of the same things you did. A while after your mother and I got married, we were on the verge of divorce, much like your own marriage has been. But all that was before we gave our lives to Christ.’

"For me, growing up as a kid, I don’t have any memory other than being in church. Because of the relationship my parents had with Jesus, that was the way they brought me up. But I know there were a number of times over the years that they just wanted to throw in the towel and give up on me. They would pray, ‘God, what have we done wrong? We’ve done everything that You’ve asked us to do, and our son is still living this way.’

I can remember how my parents used to come to where I was playing and sit sometimes for three hours in a smoky, noisy bar listening to me while I was getting drunk and doing drugs. They would pray for me and try to make sure I got home all right. They also came over to our house to pray for me and my wife.

I could see I was connecting with the audience in Columbus, so I knew the moment had come to go deeper into the specific story Dad had told me. I continued . . .

"What I’m about to tell you, I haven’t shared this story publicly, but I figured it was time. When I gave my life to the Lord at thirty-three years old, my dad and I had been working together for about fifteen years. It was a steamy, hot, and humid day in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Inside the dried-in house where we were putting up sheetrock, the air was dead and stagnant. The distinct smell of gypsum and drywall mud hung thick in the air. We had one of those huge squirrel-cage fans that squeaked way too loud with each revolution, but at least offered some movement of air. When Dad decided to break for lunch, we made the call to take our chances outside to try to, hopefully, just maybe, catch some kind of occasional breeze in the shade. Some days we would leave and go eat fast food, with the main reason being to sit in the AC for a half hour and cool off.

"But on this particular day, Dad decided that he and I would stay on the job site. I had no idea he had something he had been waiting so long to share with me and was praying for the right moment. Typically, there would be other subcontractors working on the same house we were, but that day, I don’t recall anyone else being there. The only sound was the familiar songs on the radio from the local Christian station that Dad always had playing.

"My father was fifty-nine years old with salt-and-pepper hair and a bit of scruff on his face. Especially in the Arkansas summers, his face and arms became a deep dark brown. He grabbed a sleeve of saltine crackers and a bottle of lemonade, while I got my bag of Funyuns and a Mountain Dew. I remember our main course was splitting a can of Vienna sausages.

"Just after we sat down outside on a stack of sheetrock, Dad put his food down, looked at me, and said, ‘Son, I need to tell you something.’ He paused as if he was mustering up some strength, then continued. ‘Years ago, when you first started playing music, I knew something was different about your decision. You don’t just pick up a guitar when you’re nineteen and start playing, singing, and writing songs. Then you began playing in bars and started to go down a different path. But your Mom and I just kept trusting and believing that God had a plan for your life.’

‘I’ve never told you this, but when you were a baby, we had you dedicated to the Lord at church. As we walked down the aisle toward the front, you started screaming and making a lot of noise. The pastor smiled and joked to the congregation, Man, Zach’s got a strong set of lungs on him. Probably going to be a singer someday." After everyone laughed, the pastor’s face grew serious, as if he was listening to a voice that no one else could hear.’

‘Zach, he looked at your Mom and I and stated, This child will be a voice for his generation."’

"Hearing the pastor’s words from Dad, after a moment of feeling speechless, I asked, ‘How is it that at thirty-three years old, you’ve never told me this story?’

"He answered, ‘Well, I didn’t want to put any pressure on you. I didn’t want to give you something you had to live up to. But when you started playing music, I knew God’s plan was somehow about to start. And now, I believe He has allowed you to walk through all of this to give you a platform to share your story with the world to help so many others.’

"As I reflect back on the pastor’s prophecy, I’ll be honest with you . . . there are days when I feel undeserving and unworthy of those words. But then I am reminded how God has been using broken people, messed up people, for a long time to do His work . . . so don’t let anybody ever tell you that you’re not qualified or not worthy to do what God is calling you to do. If He has a plan for my life, then He has a plan for your life.

"The reason I’m sharing this story is not to point out anything about me. I am certainly no ‘chosen one.’ The word from the pastor has never made me feel special at all. But I want everyone who comes out to hear my songs to know the truth of Jeremiah 29:11: ‘For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’ That is true for anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord—just like I finally discovered at thirty-three years old, after years of trying to outrun my guilt and shame, after straying far from the life I knew I was always supposed to be living."

Taking a deep breath, grateful to get through my first time of telling this personal story, the band and I went into playing Plan for Me.

After experiencing the gracious response from the folks gathered that evening in Georgia, I knew I had to keep sharing about that moment with my dad every night I stand on a stage, for as long as the Lord leads me. I know I have a responsibility that comes with that prophecy—to share the truth of Jesus with those who will listen.

Yet on that day when I heard my father speak those words for the first time, spoken about me when I was just a baby, I had no idea of the amazing plan God was about to unfold for me and my family. Looking into Dad’s weary, steel-blue eyes, somehow I could see all his prayers for me throughout my entire life, especially those born out of the pain of the past fifteen years.

But I could also see something else, something much bigger, much stronger—the face of a father who never wavered in the belief that his God can still bring thirty-three-year-old prodigal sons back home.

Chapter 1

Big Dreams in a Small Town

Help me believe it

When I can’t see it

Help me to know it

When I can’t hold it³

In the summer of 2022, my parents, Steve and Jenia Williams, celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Quite an amazing accomplishment in any era of history, but especially in these past five ever-changing decades since they shared their vows before God in 1972.

Throughout our lives, they have provided me and my sister, Amy, with a firm foundation in Christ. In all my wayward years, while I was building my house on the sand, they had shown me how to live life on the Rock and, as Psalm 40 states, to set my feet on solid ground. As Proverbs 22:6 encourages all parents to do, mine certainly trained up a child in the way he should go. So my story can’t be told without talking about their stable and prayerful presence in my life. Without them, I would have had no idea that there was Someone to run to when I finally came to the end of my road.

My parents grew up in Bono, Arkansas (pronounced Boh-no, not Bah-no like the U2 singer). They became a couple when Dad was in ninth grade and Mom in eighth. Since they’ve been together, they’ve never been with anyone else. Even when Dad gave in to his own rebellion a few years later, he stayed faithful to Mom.

My mother’s family owned a Phillips 66 gas station back in the full service days, meaning you pulled up and an attendant came out to pump your gas, wipe your windshield, even check your oil and tires. If anything was low, they took care of it. You never even had to get out of your car. (If you’re under thirty-five, no, I am not kidding. This was a real thing back in the day.)

Their station was the preferred hangout for local farmers to stop in, grab a cup of coffee, and catch up on gossip when they came to town for supplies. But they all knew to stay clear of the mechanic’s area, where a sign read, Labor $15 an hour. $45 an hour if you watch. For many of the men in our community, the station was their gathering place.

Built on the interstate, the Phillips 66 was in a prime location about twenty miles from the nearest towns in either direction. It was a one-stop shop that sold car parts and offered basic maintenance like oil changes