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
From Pain to Praise: Finding God's Mercy in Life's Hardest Moments
Have you ever felt abandoned by God in your darkest hour? In this episode, I share from my own journey through cancer, surgeries, and treatments that left me questioning everything, only to discover that God’s mercy never left my side.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me” isn’t just poetic comfort; it’s a living reality that has carried me through despair and turned my pain into a ministry now reaching thousands across the world.
At the heart of this message is a liberating truth: many of us carry distorted views of God, imagining Him as a stern taskmaster keeping score of our failures. But Jesus showed us the Father’s real heart, compassionate, welcoming, and full of delight in His children. When He touched lepers and embraced outcasts, that was God Himself saying, “I want you near.”
Grace means you are already accepted because of Christ’s finished work. You don’t have to strive or perform to earn His smile. It was secured at the cross. If your faith has stolen your joy, you’ve picked up a counterfeit version of it. Real grace frees your heart to rest, even rejoice, in the middle of life’s valleys.
Whether you’re facing sickness, loss, or deep doubt, you are not alone. The Shepherd walks with you, sometimes carries you, and never lets go. His mercy is following you right now.
Share this episode with someone who needs hope—they may not see it yet, but mercy is on their trail.
Here are links to the books I have written.
Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Well, I'm very excited about being back with you today on Followed by Mercy, because today again, I feel like I have been followed by mercy. You know surely, goodness and mercy is chasing me, pursuing me, hunting me down from God. It may feel like enemies are on your trail, it may feel like others are trying to destroy you, but if you're a child of God, you can mark this, in fact, as if you're not a child of God, you can still mark it down, because God loves you and he cares about you. And I just like to sit across the table from you, have a real conversation, talk about where we are, and I love hearing from listeners or viewers or readers. That really blesses me.
Austin Gardner:One listener said he hadn't heard any health updates, and so I thought today I would just kind of give you a little bit of a health update, just because some of you are interested. I don't like to belabor it, I don't want to be a victim, I want to be a victor, I want to win, I want to know that God's taking care of me and I want you to know that. But I've had a long and complicated journey with cancer. I've had what? Two surgeries. I've lost kidney, adrenal glands testicle I've been ripped from stem to stern and then I've had treatments that gave me up to 15 times of diarrhea a day and sometimes I wondered if I'd see another day. But by God's grace, by goodness and mercy, following me all the days of my life, I am still here, still alive, still serving and honestly beginning to wonder what in the world he has in mind. Servant and honestly beginning to wonder what in the world he has in mind, because I thought I was at the end, but he seems to be reviving me.
Austin Gardner:I came off of the blood pressure medicine they had on me. The medicines caused a lot of discouragement and the fact is that when one medicine was wrong, I was having panic attacks at night and that's when I started the whole time with Psalm 23. And the Lord really helped me and I got victory with the medicine and I got victory in my heart and I understood that he had promised me that he would never leave me or forsake me, and he has carried me through. So I don't want to whine or draw attention to struggles, but I would like to say this If you're in a hard place, you are not alone, you're not the only one. If you've been through some rough stuff. God hasn't abandoned you. His love is deeper than the deepest valley you're walking through. He has shown me that even cancer, even loss, even betrayal can be turned into ministry where he puts his hand. Often we resist the very treatment that could heal us. Some of the worst things that could have possibly ever happened to me have opened more ministry to me than I ever had before, before I went through all of that.
Austin Gardner:I've now written several books. I get about 11,000 or 12,000 views on articles that I write. The books are going out. The podcast is being heard the last 10 podcasts have been heard in 10 or 15 countries and just dozens of times and pain scares us, but it's often the path to healing and I now know that all I've been through, god has turned it to good. Now, they meant it for evil, they wanted to destroy me, but God turned it to good.
Austin Gardner:The surgery's cut, the needles sting, but life has purpose. And I've learned the bitter medicine is not a punishment, it's preparation. The father's not trying to harm me, he's healing me, and the same thing is true. I take, oh, about 120 pills a day, two enemas a week. Oh, I don't know what is it Five shots, about five shots a week. An IV a week, and then on top of that I have monthly stuff.
Austin Gardner:So laugh instead of crying and know this that God loves you, and tears is one of his best gifts. Don't take yourself so seriously. God's not pacing the halls of heaven, wringing his hands over our mistakes. He's walking with us. Sometimes he's carrying us and he hasn't lost his smile. He loves you more than you ever loved your children. You may not be able to control everything that happens to you, but you can control how you respond. Trouble can make you better or better. With Christ living in you, you've got every reason to face tomorrow with hope and not despair. So I don't know what you're going through. My scans say. Even the doctors say I'm a walking miracle and I just thank the Lord for that. He just keeps on keeping on and I just thank him for it. So keep praying for me and thank you. I won't give very frequent updates. Maybe I'll try to throw something in once a month or so, but that's because a listener asked.
Austin Gardner:I also got a comment from a reader that just thrilled me to no end. He was listening to the book, my book, pain to Praise, and you can find both of them. Just go to Amazon and search for W Austin Gardner or Austin Gardner and Pain to Praise, and it'll bring up my name in the books. But he wrote this. Listening to the audio book today was eye-opening. I realized how much pain and anger I'd carried into my marriage and for the first time I'm looking at the other side of the divorce with hope. Chapter eight was especially helpful. It gave me the courage to stop the pity party, let go of emotional bargaining with God and truly forgive. I may have lost everything, but through this book I'm gaining everything I really needed all along Joy, peace, love, contentment, courage and gratitude. I'm ready to climb out of the pit. Terrific book, man. I can't tell you how much that thrilled me. How much that thrilled me. It also thrilled me to hear that a listener said well, nobody's healthy, he's not talking about his health. So thank you so very much that you would ask that.
Austin Gardner:Then another person came along and commented and I know this is two days in a row, but we were commenting about the journey of learning to see God, our Father, rightly. So often we avoid God because we fear that he's scowling at us, that he's displeased with our failures. Can you relate to that? I know many can. I know I have. Sometimes it's because of the fathers we had or fathers who walked away. We project the pain of our father onto the heavenly father. We see God, our father, as harsh and distant or hard to please. But this is not how God is. And slowly our friend who's listening said God was reshaping the vision. She made the comment when my father walked away, my father, heavenly father, immediately walked in and took me up as his own. That's what Psalm 2710 says when my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. That's not theory, that's reality, that's practice. That's what happens. Our father doesn't reject us when others do. His acceptance is not fragile. He runs to the prodigal. He binds up the brokenhearted. He binds up the brokenhearted.
Austin Gardner:This listener's words remind us all. The Father is not against us. He is for you. Can you imagine?
Austin Gardner:I know people that listen. Most of you you're probably parents. Can you be against your child? No, if you've ever been afraid of God. The Father hear this. He delights in you because you are his child in Christ. The Father has never looked at you, apart from his Son. The only way he's ever known. You is in Christ Jesus. When he looks at you, he sees the perfection of his Son. That's why you are secure, wanted and welcomed. You don't have to become beloved, you already are. Now, feelings will betray you, but the blood of Jesus does not lie. God's love isn't measured by your emotions or your circumstances. It's measured by Calvary, when Jesus cried it is finished. It was finished. The debt was canceled forever. So the question was not you accepted. That is not up for debate. That was settled on the cross of Calvary. You are wanted, not because you feel wanted, but because the Father himself has bound himself to you by the blood of his son.
Austin Gardner:Now listen to me, pay attention. Don't you dare picture God sitting in heaven with a clipboard tallying up your failures. That's not who he is. See him, rather, as the father at the end of the road with his arms wide open, sprinting towards you, running towards you. Stop beating yourself up. If God isn't scowling, why are you? God didn't create you to live life in the penalty box. You've been forgiven. You've been set free. You've been given a brand new identity. You're on the winning team. The scoreboard has already been settled at the cross.
Austin Gardner:Do you understand that. Do you understand that? I want you to realize that you're not the first Hudson Taylor wrestled with this thing, trying to please so hard. You try to please God and yet you see your failure. But the Holy Spirit opened Hudson Taylor's eyes and I'm asking him to open your eyes right now. God will help you see the reality that it's not you're loving him, it's him loving you.
Austin Gardner:Oh, we know the right answers in our heads, don't we? You're listening, you say I know the answers in my head, but we struggle to believe it in our heart. But don't worry, the Holy Spirit is patiently, slowly, leading us, step by step, and you know what. He knows exactly where you are and you can mark it down. Surely, goodness and mercy are chasing you right now. Isn't that beautiful. Your shepherd never rushes ahead. If you're stumbling as a little baby trying to learn how to walk, he just smiles and laughs and claps and they'll pick you back up. He leads you forward at a pace you can handle. He never leaves you behind. Now let's clear up something before we go on. As you're listening, the father and son are never mad at each other. They're never at odds.
Austin Gardner:I need you to understand that, because you see Jesus in a good light and you see the father in a bad light. But when Jesus touched the leper, that was God's hand. Do you hear that when Jesus welcomed sinners, that was the Father's embrace? When you see Jesus, you see the Father, and that means the Father's always been running towards you with open arms In the body when infection spreads and wounds remain untreated. So it's just like your heart, your soul, when you let guilt fester, not be cleansed by the blood. It doesn't help. The treatment may sting, but the cleansing brings health. That's what the blood of Christ has done for us. He has washed away every trace of condemnation. You are free to rest.
Austin Gardner:Well, I didn't know that I've spent so many years of my life worried about what God thinks, trying to please him, trying to be good enough, trying to please the church. Grace doesn't whisper. Try harder, it shouts. It's already done. You can stop striving and start resting. While you're at it, smile again, learn to smile. God's not looking at you. God's not looking at you. He's not happy for having joyless, grim, sad saints. He loves to see us free, laughing and alive. It is never about how many times you fall. It's about how many times you get back up and in Christ you always get one more time than you go down, because he's holding you and you can't lose.
Austin Gardner:Quitting isn't your story anymore. You are more than a conqueror. One of my favorite Bible stories Joseph, sold by his brothers, forgotten in prison, falsely accused. But God was working in his life, preparing him for a special destiny. Or David, king David, another one running for his life hiding in caves. He hadn't even got to the crown yet, but God was shaping him and teaching him to trust, showing him that God would get him through every trial. Now, if you're hiding in a cave right now, don't think you're abandoned. Think of it as God preparing you. He is working in your life.
Austin Gardner:You may have wrong views of God and that's why so many young people, I think, are walking away from the church. Performance-based churches Picture a God who's so mean, so hard, so impossible to please. They think of a God who is angry and scowling. They think of a God who's just looking for failures. They don't see a father embracing sons and daughters, and churches can't figure out why people are leaving because we are just trying to manipulate people into our behavior. That kind of God is a distortion.
Austin Gardner:And Jesus revealed the Father. You know he was so kind. The fact is, I think the kindness and the mercy and the love and the grace of Jesus scares, scares, many religious-based people. They want to look for only the times when he turned over the table or planted the whip. They want to forget all those other times. Oh, it's terrible. Jesus said if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. When you look at Jesus, you see the shepherd who lays down his life. You see a friend of sinners, you see one who restores the broken. But when you see all that, you're seeing the Father's heart. That's what you got to grab on to. We must reflect that Christianity isn't about fear-based control. It's a love that casts out fear.
Austin Gardner:Grace doesn't make churches weaker, it makes them alive. I spoke recently with a friend and he said when you're in a recovery program in a church, everybody walks in, nobody's got a mask on, nobody's trying to please, everybody's there. They all know they're there because they got a problem. And we both discussed how that ought to be the way it is at church. But it's not. If our Christianity doesn't bring us into the warmth of the Father's arm, it's not the Christianity Jesus died for. Religion without grace is like medicine without life. You got a prescription, but the bottle is empty. It cannot heal. The gospel without the Father's love is an empty bottle. People are starving for reality, not rules. That's why the Holy Spirit calls us back to the cross.
Austin Gardner:Some churches look like a group of people gathered for a root canal grim faces, heavy hearts, no joy. That's not what Jesus had in mind. If your Christianity has stolen your joy, you got the wrong version. Real grace sets your heart free, sets you at heart to dancing with joy even if your feet can't move. The church ought to be the most joyful place on earth. It ought to be a place where you've set free and your face knows it.
Austin Gardner:If you're forgiven, act like it. People aren't drawn to frowns. They're drawn to life and joy and hope and smiles. You can't win the world by looking like you lost your best friend. You're a child of God. Smile and act like it. So I want to ask you to sit with the truth. You are not defined by your past. You're not defined by your failures. You're not defined by your feelings. You are defined by Christ.
Austin Gardner:The cross has already spoken the final word over your life. You are forgiven, beloved, secure. You don't have to get into Christ by your effort. Just wake up to the fact that you're in him and he is in you. Your salvation doesn't rest on how well you can hold on to God, but on the strength of his grip, and nobody is able to pluck you out of the Father's hand. That's security, that's love, that's grace.
Austin Gardner:Now listen, when life knocks you flat, don't waste energy pretending you're fine. Admit your weakness, lean into grace. Don't forget to laugh along the way. Grace is sturdy enough to carry you when you can't do it yourself. You were designed for victory, not defeat. God didn't put you here to survive. He put you here to thrive. And the greatest threat, the greatest success you can ever know isn't a big house or a nice car, but it's the joy of walking every day in the love of our Father. He loves you and I hope I know some of you have carried the wrong view of God. I did too. Maybe you've been afraid to get close to Him, but the Father's arms are open. He's not willing to scold you. He loves you. He's running towards you. His arms are open. So listen. If you feel unwanted, think of Jesus dying for you. If you feel abandoned, remember he'll never leave you or forsake you. So open your heart, know God's love in your head and in your heart.
Austin Gardner:Thank you all for spending so much time with me. I hope this is a blessing to you. I love it when you take the time to write or comment or any of that. It really blesses me. And for those who are listening overseas, I am so grateful for you Ten countries that are listening. You bless me and I'm just thankful for you. Thank you for praying for me. We are all followed by mercy. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. I want you to remember that. Don't you forget it. He loves you. I don't care how bad you're hurting. I don't care what you're going through. You are not alone. Thank you for being with me today. Share the podcast with others if it's a blessing to you. Thank you.
