Tony Cummings updates the story of award-winning singer/songwriter AARON SHUST

Aaron Shust

The usual path to international success for the worship songwriter is to toil away for years in local church obscurity and in due course record several independent albums before eventually coming to the attention of one of the big Christian music multi-nationals. But such a path was not laid out for Aaron Shust. His debut album, 'Anything Worth Saying', was recorded in 2004 and released the following year after its producer, Dan Hannon, submitted it to the mainstream label Brash Music. As it turned out the album contained the Shust-penned worship classic "My Savior, My God" which went on to be named Song Of The Year by the Gospel Music Association. Such phenomenal success continued for the Chicago-born singer, guitarist and piano player. His 2007 album 'Whispered And Shouted' was a hit nominated as Contemporary Album Of The Year while his 2009 album 'Take Over' on Brash and his 2011 release 'This Is What We Believe' (on Centricity) both made America's Christian music charts.

But behind one of Christian music's success stories there's a tale of trial and difficulty. After experiencing many medical tribulations with his son Nicky in 2012, Shust once again faced life-threatening medical situations with his son Michael, who was born in January of this year. Michael was faced with heart surgery, Down Syndrome and a second surgery for hearing issues and ongoing health issues. As Michael's father, Shust didn't feel defeated, but instead felt a renewed passion for Christ which came through in the songs on his latest album, released in July, 'Morning Rises'. He spoke to faithvillage.com about his album and his faith. "To me, the overarching purpose of the album is to provide a voice of praise, honouring God because he is worthy of our praise, regardless of our circumstances. Just like Job praised God by declaring, 'The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord' even when his circumstances were tragic, I desire to praise God when my past, present and future are unclear. Zachariah looks forward to the coming of the Messiah in Luke 1 saying, 'The Rising Sun will come to us from Heaven to shine on those living in darkness.' We can look back and know that Christ has come as the light of the world, shining his light (his love, joy, peace, patience, etc.) to break through the darkness of our hearts and the world around us."

One of the most powerful songs on 'Morning Rises' is "Mighty Fortress". Recounted Aaron, "'Mighty Fortress' was the first song I began to write for this album and that was two days before my youngest son Michael was born. We were surprised to discover, mere minutes after he was born, that he had Down Syndrome and a major heart defect. When all was said and done, he has survived a less than one per cent chance of survival. The words of the verses that I had just written gave me such strength during those days in the hospital as we wrestled with the concept that our lives were forever changed. 'He won't abandon, he won't deceive, he won't desert us, he won't ever leave. . .' He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And as we read in Jeremiah 29:11, 'He has a plan to prosper us, not to harm us, but to give us a future and a hope.' I just learned that the Hebrew word for 'prosper' means 'to allow us to realise our full potential'. That's what God wants for us."

Aaron continued, "92 per cent of all babies diagnosed with the possibility of Down Syndrome are aborted. Michael is such an angel and an absolute blessing to our family. He is helpless, even more helpless than the average baby, and therefore paints a vivid picture for how much we need our Heavenly Father for our own daily provision and sustenance; spiritually, emotionally and physically. I believe that as Michael grows, he will model Christ-like love, forgiveness and joy like we've never seen before. God doesn't make mistakes. He chose to bring Michael Aaron into this world and has blessed our family to care for him and be impacted by him."