Followed By Mercy
The Followed By Mercy Podcast
Real Grace, Honest Hope
You might notice a new name and a fresh look, but the heart behind this podcast is the same. After years as the World Evangelism Podcast, I sensed God leading me to a deeper, more personal path centered on His relentless mercy and the kind of honest hope that can reach into every hurting place. That’s why this show is now called Followed By Mercy Podcast. The format may shift, and the tone may be a bit more personal, but my mission hasn’t changed: I still believe the world desperately needs to hear the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ. You are welcome here if you’ve been with me from the beginning or just found us now.
What if God’s love is more personal, stubborn, and relentless than you ever imagined?
Welcome to The Followed By Mercy Podcast, where we get honest about pain, hope, and the kind of grace that finds you right where you are, five days a week. This isn’t about religious performance or church routines. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt worn out, unseen, or unsure if they belong in the story of God’s love. Every conversation is rooted in this reality: God loves you right now, just as you are, and He isn’t giving up on you.
Here’s what you’ll find in every episode:
Experience God’s Relentless Love
Every show starts by reminding you that the Shepherd knows your name, cares about your story, and isn’t offended by your failures or questions. This is personal—it’s about God’s unwavering affection for you.
Find Your Place in His Heart
Once you grasp how fiercely you’re loved, sharing that love with others doesn’t feel forced. It becomes the most natural thing in the world. Real grace overflows.
Prayer That Changes You
We pray together—not just for the world “out there,” but for the battles and hopes you’re carrying right now. These prayers are honest, rooted in Scripture, and meant for hearts that need a gentle touch from the Shepherd.
Discover Your Unique Role
Whether you’re called to go, give, serve, or show kindness in your corner of the world, God’s mercy meets you where you are. You’re not just a bystander. You are His beloved, invited into the story He’s writing.
When life knocks the wind out of you, this is a place to catch your breath. You’ll hear the encouragement that meets you on your hardest days, and your honest questions will be welcomed. No pretending, no heavy-handed advice—just the reminder that your Shepherd is right there with you, walking every step with you, even when you feel like giving up.
Why does this matter? Because some days, it feels like nobody sees you or cares what you’re going through. But the truth is, you have a Shepherd who never takes His eyes off you, lets you slip through the cracks, and never gives up on you. That kind of love can put you back on your feet, and it might be the hope someone else is waiting to see in you, too.
If you’re longing for more than just religious talk—if you want to know you’re not alone and that God’s mercy is following you all the way home, you’re in the right place. Whether you listen in the car, on a walk, or in a quiet moment, let every episode remind you: God’s mercy is after you right now, ready to bring real grace and honest hope.
Subscribe today and join a community to discover what happens when loved people become loving people. The journey’s just beginning, and there’s a place for you here.
Followed By Mercy
He Leads Me
Podcast Episode Description:
What do you do when everything is falling apart, and there's no obvious way out?
In this episode, we walk with David through one of the most crushing seasons of his life. His own son is chasing him down with an army. He's being cursed, humiliated, and hunted. The weight of betrayal, fear, and exhaustion would be enough to break anyone. But instead of collapsing in despair, David whispers something bold: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."
That single statement shifts everything.
David doesn't focus on the threats around him. He doesn't try to control the outcome or bargain with God. He turns his heart toward the One who's always cared for him. The result? A kind of peace that doesn't make sense from the outside—but holds steady on the inside.
In this episode, we unpack how that same focus can restore your soul today. Whether you're walking through a crumbling marriage, overwhelming debt, a health diagnosis, or heartbreak, you never saw coming—peace won't come from understanding everything. It comes from trusting the Shepherd who's leading you through it.
Here's what we explore together:
- Why David's darkest hour became his clearest moment of faith
- How "still waters" show up even when the storm hasn't stopped
- Why your peace is tied to who you look at, not what you face
- How God leads you because of His name's sake—not your performance
- What it means to stop striving and start trusting again
- Why restoration often starts right in the middle of the battle, not after it's over
David didn't wait for things to get better before he trusted the Shepherd. He trusted in the chaos. He rested in the valley. And that's what gave him strength to keep going.
You're not alone in your battle. The Shepherd sees you. He knows the path. And He's not walking away from you now.
Tune in and be reminded: you don't have to figure everything out. You just have to follow the One who already has.
Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
we've talked about how we think David is in the middle of the worst battle of his life. His son has an army ready to kill him. He has run him out of his kingdom. He's had rocks thrown at him, he's been cursed to his face. His own men wanted to defend him and David wouldn't allow them to defend him. David's feeling pretty despondent, defeated, saying well, maybe God will see what's happened to me and have mercy on me. And he's alone now and at any minute. It appears that he could die, and he learns to think and he meditates on.
Austin Gardner:The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want, and I want you to think on that and I want to walk you through some of the things he's saying, and I want to help you with that. I don't know what you're facing. I don't know what you're dealing with. I don't know if the church, your pastor isn't growing it like you want, or the support's not coming in, or your marriage is having some issues, or you're dealing with some friends that haven't been friendly, or whatever issue you're dealing with, or if you're feeling you don't measure up and you're hurting. I just want you to know there's an answer for you and that is learning to focus on the Lord Jesus and to make the shepherd the center of your focus, not the situation.
Austin Gardner:So David starts off like we've talked about. Right from the start he said the Lord is my shepherd, he doesn't go anywhere else. Then he thinks about all the benefits of having the Lord as his shepherd. He is so excited he has never had a need. I shall not want every time. God has always been there and always supplied. Then he said no, is he supplied? But he has given me enough that I laid down when there was plenty to eat. It's kind of like what you do on the Thanksgiving meal in America, where you eat till you're so full that when they offer you more banana pudding, more apple pie with ice cream or another serving of turkey, you're like I wish I could. I just can't. He makes me lie down in green pastures in the middle of a storm, in the middle of everything going on. When I look back over my life, god has been good to me and I'm going to focus on that. Then he says he leads me beside still waters. You know that means he leads him to water that's quiet water that doesn't scare him. The sheep are easily frightened by the babbling brook. They don't want to drown, they don't want to fall in the water and not be able to get back up.
Austin Gardner:When I was a boy, we had a horse, a Tennessee walking horse, a stallion, a big horse, very big, many times bigger than I could ever dream of controlling, and he wouldn't drink out of the stream. So I'd always lead the horses down to the water at the stream, but he wouldn't drink there. He would rear up on his back legs, he would pick me up in the air, and so I learned the only way to get him to drink was either take it to him in a bucket, so it was a still water, or to take him where there was a still water place and he wouldn't be frightened by the water. That's what God does. He knows that right now you're in the middle of turmoil, but if you could turn your focus from what's happening to you and turn it to what God's doing for you, you could find peace in the middle of the battle. You could find a place of quiet rest, even though everything about your circumstances screams that it's over. You're in trouble and you don't know what to do. He leads me besides still waters and then you understand what's happening. We're talking still waters in the middle of the battle. We're talking still waters when his enemies are raging just over the hilltop. We're talking still waters when his own captains are saying to him you better hide, I will fight for you. But I mean, we're in trouble, still waters. In the middle of what seems like he could never win over, he finds a place of peace. God offers you that, not in your circumstances, not in what you can do, not in your friendships, but in your relationship, the relationship he wants with you and the relationship that he has with you. And that's where he restores your soul. That's why we talked about all the meditation.
Austin Gardner:We talked about the meditation because you come in weak and wounded. You come in weak and wounded, but when you focus on the Lord, when you focus all he has done and all he is doing and all that you know that he will do, then you can be restored. Your heart's beating fast, you can't hardly breathe, your mouth is sticking together, you don't know what to do. You're breathing fast, but you can't get enough air. Your heart's beating and it's about to pop out of your chest. Your temples are throbbing, you're upset. But when you focus on the Lord, all of a sudden the storm clouds roll back, the sun starts to peep through the clouds back off and you find peace, you find abundant life, you find still waters, you find all that God's done and you're restored.
Austin Gardner:You remember when david uh lost his men at zig lag? They came in and while they were off at battle and and the the few guys had stayed behind and they stole their wives and their children and their all their goods and they left the camp. And when they got back, david's back and his own men turn against him. They want to kill him because he was responsible for all their loss. Remember, the Bible says and David David comforts himself, encourages himself in the Lord. I've often wondered what does that mean? He encouraged himself in the Lord. You see, what happened was he got to a point in his life that he could see enough of God that he could see past the giants? He saw enough of God that he could see past the situation to his shepherd.
Austin Gardner:You see, it's really not what's happening to you and it's not what you're feeling. It's where you're focusing, not what you're feeling. It's where you're focusing, not what you're feeling. It's where you're focusing. You see, when you focus on the giant, you'll feel the giants. When you focus on feeling like a grasshopper, you'll be like a grasshopper. When you focus on the Lord, you'll know that the enemy is easily to be beaten. You know that because you're focusing on the Lord. And the question is where are you focusing? The question right now is where are you focusing? As you're dealing with issues in your life and so I know maybe you're having marriage problems or family problems or financial problems or health issues, and if you focus on those, they'll get too big.
Austin Gardner:But you remember, we discussed seeing the truth beyond what's true. It's true, david, you're in trouble, You're in a cave, but the truth is the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. It's true when you send the 12 spies into the promised land that they are like giants. But the truth is beyond what's true that they're giants is that God is able. It's true that Goliath could kill all the men, but it's bigger truth. God is there. It's true, they're going to throw you in a fiery furnace, but the truth is God will take care of you and if he takes care of you and lets you live, fine. If he doesn't, fine. But you've got truth and that's where you and I focus is on truth, and that's how he restores our soul.
Austin Gardner:Now we're going to walk our way into the next part of the psalm. It says he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Now, I love this part of the psalm. I mean, I love this part of the Psalm. I mean I love this whole Psalm. It is radically changing my life all the time because I just constantly think about it.
Austin Gardner:But I don't know how to navigate where I am. I don't know how to navigate cancer. I don't know how to navigate chaos. I don't know how to navigate when so many things are going wrong. I don't know how to navigate chaos. I don't know how to navigate when so many things are going wrong. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to do.
Austin Gardner:Well, here's what David knows. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul and he's going to lead me where I need to go. All I need to do is take the next step. Obey God, and he's going to take care of me. He's going to take care of me for his name's sake. Do you understand. We'll get into that more in the next episode or so but do you understand that he's going to do all that because of who he is? That's what, for his name's sake, means. He's not doing it because your namesake. He's not doing it because I want to take care of Austin and I want Austin's name to be magnified. He wants his name to be magnified and he's lifting up his name and he's honoring himself and what he does. He says I'll lead you. I know you've never been here before. I know you don't know what to do, but I do. So you can trust me to get you through what's in front of you. So let me lead you, let me guide you, let me take you on to the next step in your life. Now you listen to me before we stop for today's meditation.
Austin Gardner:He's not left you. I don't care how far you wandered away or I don't care how much trouble you're in, I don't care how much you're begging him to help you. He's standing there saying I'm here, I'm your shepherd. You don't have to worry, I won't leave you. If you run away, I'll chase you down and bring you home because I love you.
Austin Gardner:Yours, the lord is your. You will not have to want. You will not have to want. You never have, you never will. And he will come get you and bring you back to green pastures and he'll make it so plenteous that you'll eat like Thanksgiving meal and be done. And he'll find some still quiet water, some peace in the middle of the problems. He'll restore your soul and he'll lead you forward. So lean on the shepherd, look to the shepherd. Just enjoy the fact that the shepherd's going to take care of you, for that today, that's your thought. The shepherd's going to lead me. The shepherd is always taking care of me and the shepherd always will take care of me, and I'm going to keep trusting my shepherd.
