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
Shame, Failure, and the Shield of God: A Study of Psalm 3:3
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"But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head." — Psalm 3:3
What do you do when you’ve lost it all? When your family, your reputation, and your sense of worth are gone? Today, Austin Gardner takes us to the wilderness where King David was running for his life. David wasn't just a victim; he was a man who knew his own failures intimately. Yet, in the middle of the shame, he found a God who refuses to let us grovel.
In this episode, Austin explores the incredible grace of a God who reaches down to the broken and lifts their heads to look Him eyeball-to-eyeball.
Key Takeaways:
- David's "cancel culture" experience and how he survived it.
- The reality that God's glory is our true identity, not our successes or failures.
- Why Christianity is about relationship, not rules.
If you’re hurting or feeling ashamed today, this episode is a reminder that you don't have to have your head down. God is ready to listen, and He loves you exactly where you are.
Subscribe & Listen:
Find more encouragement at followedbymercy.buzzsprout.com or visit waustingardner.com.
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David’s Collapse And Public Shame
God As Shield, Glory, And Lifter
Jesus Lifts Us Face To Face
Bring Your Pain To God Today
Austin GardnerYou know, I'm just excited to share with you what the Lord's teaching me. And I'm going to read you a verse and then I'll I'll uh take the glasses off and try to look a little more decent for you. But the Bible says in Psalm 3:3, But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of my head. I was reading and thinking and meditating on that passage of scripture, and it blows my mind because David is uh David is running for his life from Absalom, which is a lot of what we talked about when we went through Psalm 23, if you remember. It's exciting because as you watch it, as you see it, you realize that David has lost everything. It's an honor-shame culture. And so there in his country now, he's lost it all. His son has thrown him out. It's cancel culture before cancel culture was popular. And he's lost it all. And uh he's on the run. He's lost his money, he's lost his position, he's lost his power, he's lost his influence. He's alone. It's ruined. Everything has been destroyed. Everything, but he remembers the truth. You know, he has messed up. There's no question. I was just studying today. You know, this happens within he's about 55 or so when he sends with Bathsheba, 50-55. He'll die at 70. Seven or eight years later, this is happening. Absalom is now trying to kill him. He'll have seven or eight years that are pretty good at the end of his life. But the beauty of it all is that he realized no matter what my people think of me, no matter what's going on out there in the world, no matter how many people are attacking me, I can say this, and here it comes again. Are you ready? He says, Thou, O Lord, you I am, you, Jehovah, you, Yahweh, are a shield for me. You're my protector. You're my protector. You're my glory. My glory is not in my kingdom, my glory is not in my wisdom, my glory is not in everything I have going for me. My glory is in you. You are my glory. You know, he walked out of that kingdom, out of his city with his head down, ashamed. And as he walked out of there with his head down, ashamed, he realized I don't have to grovel, I don't have to beg, I don't have to repent. There's none of that mentioned in Psalm chapter 3. He just goes straight to it. I know who you are. Well, that's what God's calling us to do. See, David took his eyes off himself. David took his eyes off of his failure. He had sinned with Bathsheba. He'd failed raising his kids. He'd failed as a friend. He made a lot of mistakes. He was wrong. And I think if we're honest, we've all made mistakes. We're all wrong. We all mess up. But knowing that he knew this. He still loves me. He still loves me. I'm still that special to him. He's my glory. He's my glory. He's the lifter of my head. And I got to thinking about it in the New Testament. When every time one of us believers, we see God or Jesus, we fall down as dead at his feet. The awe, the reverence of the holiness of God, and it knocks us to our feet. But do you remember what he does every time? He reaches down and picks us up and looks at us eyeball to eyeball, face to face with Jesus, my Savior, who paid it all, who cleaned me up, and who made it possible that I could look at him. He's the lifter of my head. He's the one that says, I have triumphed over evil. I have destroyed those that have destroyed you, and I am loving you right now. I'm with you, I'm behind you, I'm for you. Nobody like God. That's just the blunt truth. There's no one like God. What a privilege to serve him. So what are you dealing with today? I'd like to know what you're going through. Your whole life's falling apart. Your family doesn't love you. Your wife doesn't love you. Your husband doesn't love you. Your children don't love you. Everything is going wrong. But if you're a believer, and if not, you can still have all this to be true. Just simply go to God and say, thank you for loving me. That's the language of Christianity. Thank you. Thank you. And you can just say, God, thank you for being my glory, because you know what? In the long run of things, all of us will be forgotten, but God won't forgive us. In the long run, other people could try to lift our heads, but there's only one that can lift our head and really restore us. There's only one that can forgive us. There's only one that can say, come boldly and talk to me. You don't have to have your head down. You don't have to be embarrassed. You don't have to be ashamed. I'm ready to listen to you. I love you. I came for you. Christianity is not about rules, it's about relationship. It's about God loving you. It's about God loving me. And so I'm challenging you to get in there and let the Lord love you today. Are you hurting? Turn to Jesus now.
